My Top 10 Favorite LGBTQ Films: Riese, Who Appreciates Teen Angst, Suburban Ennui and Angelina Jolie

In My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies, various members of Autostraddle’s TV Team tell you about the movies nearest and dearest to our hearts and invite you to like all the same things we like. Today, CEO Riese shares feelings about her favorite films of all time.

After eleven years at this website, I have summarized every single one of these movies eighty thousand times. So I’m not going to do that all over again! I’m just gonna talk about my favorite topic…. myself. Also the movies! The movies and me.

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10. All Over Me (1997)

“It’ll make you want to be a lesbian,” Lörn told me, standing on the street outside the Michigan Theater, sucking on the ring pop looped around her pink-and-yellow lanyard. She’d already seen it so she wasn’t coming in with us but we’d meet up later. Her lips turned red as strawberries and I was scared, but also excited? “All Over Me” was an indie film about teenagers and I pretty much watched all of those, then.  I knew, unfortunately, that my Mom and her friends had chosen the same showing but she’d promised not to talk to me, but when they noisily filed in to a row near the back in their tucked-in t-shirts, giddy and laughing and talking, I think some of my friends knew. I kept thinking about that film forever, about the damaged oversexed best friend who crawls into bed and kisses you in secret. I’d had friends like that, moments like that. Maybe not quite that far but on the verge of it. I thought about it forever. Maybe Lörn was right.

9. Foxfire (1999)

Knowing that Angelina Jolie and Jenny Shimizu met and started dating on the set of this overlooked film in which teenage girls take revenge upon the men who violate and oppress them only deepened my already-intense feelings about it. Re-watching it recently I found, surprise, that it completely holds up until the like, last 30 minutes, when it falls to pieces. Angelina Jolie in a bowl cut and a leather jacket climbing through the window? Possibly my root. This is peak lesbian style. Look at those girls!!!!!

9. The Hours (2002)

Sign me up for the mid-century suburban housewife with secret lesbian longings. For getting the flowers herself. For Phillip Glass and Virginia Woolf and a smidgen of Claire Danes.

8. The Handmaiden (2016)

I was invited to see this film when it debuted and I declined — I’d just emerged from a terrible breakup and didn’t want to be reminded that other people still had sex and fell in love or whatever it is I imagined would happen in this movie. I agreed to meet for drinks beforehand and then, slightly soused, was cajoled into attending. I think it’s important to support independent film so I bought a ticket and got in an aisle seat and about five minutes in, said I was going to the bathroom and instead took an Uber home. Then like two years later I watched it on my TV with my jaw open like an idiot. I just could not believe! It is so hot and meticulous with twists in all the right places.

6. A Simple Favor (2018)

I’ve perhaps praised this film more than any other film in human history over the past two years even though technically it’s not that good. There’s just something so delicious and ridiculous about it. I lament all those entering the theater with prior knowledge of its gay content. I took a girl on a date to this film not even knowing how wonderful and occasionally gay it would be, and I felt very good about myself afterwards. The promotions had all the trappings of an Ocean’s Eight-esque clit tease, but it was not, not at that level. Like Gone Girl, but a comedy.

5. Gia (1998)

If you wanted to watch a movie at boarding school you had to walk to the video store in town, which was maybe a mile or three away, who can remember. So we did that; for this. By “we” I mean me and my friend who I had a mildly homoerotic friendship with. You know the type! Even straight girls can have them. I think we all had them, then. Maybe from watching Foxfire, or maybe from something else. Anyhow, Angelina Jolie (again here we are) is beautiful and tragic, everything a teenager wants to be or be close to. So of course we loved it. So of course we never walked back to the video store to return it. I apologize to the town of Interlochen, I hope you had HBO subscriptions.

4. Saving Face (2005)

I did that thing when I was first coming out to myself where I watched all the films and read all the books? I just went ahead and knocked out one after the other on Netflix’s lesbian section — back when Netflix was DVDs in the mail. Most of the movies felt like compromises, You give me lesbians and I accept mediocrity. Not this one, though. This was a romantic comedy as solid as they come. Congratulations to everybody involved!

3. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017)

I read afterwards that the families of the people involved in this film dispute the account, which I found annoying, because this account is delightful. This film, directed by the esteemed Angela Robinson, has everything: hot sex, a man who doesn’t suck, history, feminism, school.

2. Blockers (2018)

I flew a lot in 2018, like at least once a month, so if the film was on the airplane’s entertainment system, there was a good chance I’d enjoy it with my tiny plastic box of grapes and crackers. This one blew my mind. It was fucking delightful! I landed in Dallas and within 5 hours, was watching it for a second time with Sarah, and then within 24 hours, was watching it a third time with Laneia. So sex-positive, so fun! The queer storyline was great and the parents were funny and interesting and I cannot think of one single thing this film did incorrectly, besides to market it like a gross-out teen sex comedy a la Porky’s, thus ensuring nobody would actually go see it. Sad!

1. But I’m a Cheerleader (1999)

All of the stories around these ’90s movies feel fake as I’m writing them, but sometimes life is on the nose! The State Theater was packed for this one and while ceremoniously avoiding my popcorn until lights down, Amelia started talking about a girl she’d dated at college, and told me about another friend who also had a girlfriend, which I described in my diary as “a bit shocking,” before noting, “I used to be scared when I was a kid that I’d grow up to be a lesbian.” After some hemming and hawing around the exact circumstances upon which I could consider “being with a girl” I have only this to say about the film: “Good movie though — FUN.” I’ve seen it ten thousand times since. It’s exactly right, every minute of it. It’s hard to get something like that right — a colorful, energetic, sarcastic comedy about a tragic circumstance — but they did.

Almost making the list: Show Me Love/Fucking Amal, If These Walls Could Talk 2, Desert Hearts, Appropriate Behavior, The Hours, I Shot Andy Warhol

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Want more movies? Check out Autostraddle’s 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time.

25 Broadway Musicals You Can Stream Online

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Grease

Legally Blonde: The Musical

Cabaret

Billy Elliot!

Company

Jesus Christ Superstar

Hello Again

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Annie

Hair

Into the Woods

Chicago

Gypsy

West Side Story

Les Miserables

Bye Bye Birdie

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Rent

Fiddler on the Roof

The Phantom of the Opera

Kinky Boots

Little Shop of Horrors

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Dreamgirls

Fame!

Newsies

Falsettos

Peter Pan

Evita

Hairspray!

Mama Mia!

The Wiz

Funny Girl

My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Films: Heather Hogan, the Tender Butch Who Wants a Happy Ending

In My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies, various members of Autostraddle’s TV Team tell you about the movies nearest and dearest to our hearts and invite you to like all the same things we like. Today, TV Team Editor/Senior Writer Heather Hogan shares feelings about her favorite films of all time.

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10. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

free on Hulu

When I was watching Portrait of a Lady on Fire, I was mesmerized, but when it ended, I wouldn’t have immediately put it in my top ten because — spoiler alert! — the ending isn’t exactly happy and I just really, really love happy endings for queer people. I crave them. I need them! But this film permeated my consciousness and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I still can’t stop thinking about it. It imprinted itself on me!

9. Imagine Me & You

rent for $3.99

For a very long time, this was the only queer love story with a happy ending that was readily available to queer people. It was a mainstream queer rom-com! I can quote this movie by heart, and I would sit down and watch it any time of day, any day of the week, any week of the year.

8. Battle of the Sexes

rent for $3.99

Billie Jean King has been a hero of mine for as long as I can remember. There are so few lesbian sports movies, and certainly there aren’t any others with this caliber of talent released so widely. And it’s not just about her feminism and athletic triumphs! It’s about falling in love with another woman! All of it resonates.

7. Desert Hearts

rent for $3.99

Desert Hearts holds up! It’s romantic and empowering and funny, and it features one of the best lesbian sex scenes ever put on film.

6. Hearts Beat Loud

free on Hulu

There are so many things to love about this movie, but my favorite is when Rose teaches Sam how to ride a bike, and then they pedal up the sidewalk by the river together. It’s heavy symbolism, especially set against Sam’s dad (the typical teacher of daughters riding bikes) playing his guitar alone to music she created, learning to let her go. It’s melancholy and hopeful and tiumphant, and that’s a rare combination.

5. D.E.B.S.

rent for $3.99

D.E.B.S. also holds up! It’s as campy and ridiculous and hilarious now as the first time I watched it! There’s hardly anything I want more than an Angela Robinson-helmed D.E.B.S. TV series.

4. Saving Face

free on Amazon Prime

Saving Face was the first lesbian movie I ever watched. I thought, “Wow, lesbian movies are AWESOME.” It was 2005. I was in for a big surprise. Alice Wu made a perfect film, and one that had never been made before and hasn’t been made since. Multi-generational coming of age, coming out, centering Chinese-American experiences across generations. It’s sweet and it’s laugh-out-loud hilarious.

3. Wild Nights With Emily

free on Hulu

Writer/director Madeleine Olnek weaves together a hilarious, affectionate, piercing film — sourced directly from Dickinson’s own letters and poems, without the unnecessary interpretation of male historians or critics — that’s one part epic lesbian love story; one part poetic biopic; and one part relentless, satirical skewering of the patriarchal literary establishment that shaped our impression of Dickinson as a dour, virginal spinster.

2. The Half of It

free on Netflix

🍍🦉🐛

1. Carol

rent for $3.99

It’s not just that it’s a transcendent lesbian love story; it’s that Todd Haynes made the bold decision to allow Carol‘s audience to laugh at men. Not with men. No, Haynes invited viewers to see the men in his movie — these husbands and boyfriends and duplicitous know-it-all notions sellers — through the eyes of queer women and to laugh openly at their silliness, unearned confidence, and expendability. In 1952!

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My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies: Natalie, the TV Team’s Resident Bisexual

In My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies, various members of Autostraddle’s TV Team tell you about the lesbian movies nearest and dearest to our hearts and invite you to like all the same things we like. Today, writer and tv/film critic Natalie shares feelings about her favorite lesbian films of all time.

I’m jumping into the fray, offering my top 10 favorites… which include a disproportionate number of love stories for someone so strangely convinced that love is a lie.

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10. TIE: I Can’t Think Straight & The World Unseen

rent I Can’t think Straight for $3.99
rent The World Unseen for $3.99

I am not sure I realized what an indelible impression these movies made on me until I was watching the Amazon series, Four More Shots Please. It was a relatively new series at the time… a bit like Sex and the City but with four Indian women (one of whom is bisexual) and conversation that veers between Hindi and English. I wasn’t sold on the show right away but then Umang (the aforementioned bisexual character) shows up at the door of her new client, superstar actress Samara Kapoor, and is immediately lovestruck… and then everything clicks. And it clicks, mostly, because the woman playing Samara is Lisa Ray, the same actress who I’d vicariously fallen in love with in I Can’t Think Straight and The World Unseen.

9. Can You Ever Forgive Me?

buy for $14.99 // free on Cinemax

More than the story itself — I love this movie as a treatise on loneliness — I love Can You Ever Forgive Me? for Melissa McCarthy. She fully embodies the misanthropic Lee Israel in a way that’s just astounding to watch and, in the process, subverts all the limitations Hollywood’s ever put on her. McCarthy likes being funny (and even here, she does that, though in different way that some of her other work) but that’s not all she can do. I love seeing her get to showcase that.

8. Blockers

rent for $3.99

Credit to my TV Team teammates who convinced me to give Blockers a try despite the name and the horrible ad campaign that accompanied it. When I finally saw it, it felt like a gift. It won me over with its celebration of female friendships and, of course, it’s adorable queer storyline. And the bow on top of that gift? Thinking about the people (read: men) who bought into movie’s sexist advertising, and instead got a movie that reaffirms female agency.

7. Rafiki

rent for $1.99 // free on Canopy

It’s hard not to dote on all the ways in which Rafiki is truly a groundbreaking film… for queer representation, for queer representation in Kenya, specifically, and for a new genre of film that showcases Kenya in a light we have never seen before. But, also, I feel like that overshadows that Rafiki is simply a really good movie, an all-around beautifully rendered love story.

6. Mosquita y Mari

rent for $3.99

You know that moment when you start to feeling something for another girl — but the words to define exactly what that something is, elude you? It’s a moment that’s so magical and pure and you only ever get to experience it once before becomes a vague memory. That feeling, that moment… that is Mosquita y Mari. Few films capture it better than Aurora Guerrero does here.

5. The Half of It

free on Netflix

In 1951, after toiling around in the minor leagues for three years, Bob Nieman earned his first at-bat in Major League Baseball. He steps into the batter’s box in the second inning and knocks Mickey McDermott’s pitch out of the park for a solo homer. His second time up and he does it again: this time, knocking it out of Fenway Park. Nieman remains one of just two players ever in MLB to have hit homers during their first two at bats.

That is, oddly enough, what I thought about after recently re-watching Alice Wu’s latest release: how improbable it is that someone could hit homeruns on their first two at-bats — or, even more impressive, in their only two at-bats — as Wu has done with The Half Of It and Saving Face.

Did I imagine The Half Of It would jump so far up my list of favorites after just two months of streaming? No, I did not… but the combination of Alice Wu’s writing and directing, Leah Lewis’ performance, the soundtrack and the Alice Wu-curated character playlists? It made it impossible for me not to love it.

4. Bessie

buy for $9.99 // free on HBO or HBO Max

I am, generally speaking, not a fan of period pieces but Bessie is an exception to all the rules. I love so many things about this movie: Dees Rees’ masterful directing hand, Queen Latifah’s stunning performance, Mo’Nique’s reemergence as an acting powerhouse and Tika Sumpter as queer, which is a thing I’ve secretly wished for since I first saw her on One Life to Live years ago. I love that the depictions of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey and their distinct queer identities get to exist alongside each other. Bessie allows us to be complex and complicated in a way that other TV and film often does not.

3. Imagine Me & You

rent for $3.99

Have there ever been two more affecting lines uttered in lesbian film canon than:

Luce: Don’t forget me.
Rachel: I won’t remember anything else.

I think not. I’m not even sure I believe in love at first sight but every time I watch Imagine Me & You — which is far more frequently than I’d care to admit — I really, really want to.

2. Saving Face

free on Amazon Prime

Saving Face was crafted as a love letter to Alice Wu’s mother but when I saw it for the first time, my focus was entirely on Wil and Vivian’s relationship. Their love story felt like the thing I should relate to, so I spent the entire movie hoping that they’d find a way to be together. But, in the 16 years since Saving Face‘s debut, it feels like I’ve grown to see Wu’s intention. Gao’s lesson that “love can start at any point in your life that you want it to” feels like the most resonant part of the movie for me now. It’s almost as if Saving Face has grown along with me… and that makes for a really special film.

1. Pariah

rent for $0.99

Here’s what I wrote about this epic film just last year:

Back in 2018, still basking in the glow of Moonlight‘s upset of La La Land for the Best Picture Oscar, famed lesbian author Jacqueline Woodson asked Lena Waithe if she thought we’d ever have a “lesbian Moonlight.” Waithe quickly points out that we’ve already had one: Dee Rees’ stunning coming-of-age and coming out drama, Pariah. But like its central character, Alike, Pariah found itself adrift in a world not yet ready for its honesty.

Adepero Oduye astounds as Alike, the 17-year-old who navigates her identity along a Brooklyn bus route: literally shifting from the conservative, feminine girl her mother loves to the masculine-of-center woman who loves other women, as she makes her way across town. Pariah is, at times, painful to watch — in the way that things that feel too true usually are — but optimism persists throughout.

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Movies that almost made the list: Avengers: Endgame (technically, it counts!), D.E.B.S., Dirty Computer, Out In The Night, Paris is Burning, Set It Off, The Color Purple, The Watermelon Woman, Widows

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Want more movies? Check out Autostraddle’s 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time.

You Watched “Disclosure,” Now Watch These Shorts, Web Series, and Indies Made by Trans People!

I hope you found time this weekend to watch Sam Feder’s remarkable new documentary Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen, now available on Netflix. It provides a complicated history of over the last hundred plus of mainstream trans representation and features interviews with a wide array of trans media artists you know and love.

Since that film focuses specifically on mainstream film and television, I also wanted to share some not mainstream works that I also love, specifically by trans artists (many of whom are featured in the documentary!). Conversations around queer and trans representation often focus on the works that traumatized us or that helped us to discover our identities. I watched everything on this list after I already came out. I knew who I was (or at least, was starting to know) and with that knowledge, I desperately wanted to see myself and our history on screen.

One thing that Disclosure makes clear is that representation is personal, and so is this list. It’s intentionally not comprehensive, so please share other work you love! Especially other work made by trans people. Nobody tells our stories better than we do.

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Valencia by Clement Hil Goldberg, Joey Soloway, and others

Cinephilia is like The Chart. One discovery leads to another that leads to another. I first watched this omnibus adaptation of Michelle Tea’s book because I knew there were sections directed by Joey Soloway and Cheryl Dunye. What a nice surprise that another section is cast with trans women, and another with trans men, and that the whole project was produced by trans filmmaker Clement Hil Goldberg! The movie is an explosion of queer creativity. It was a gift to watch so early in my transition. I saw a portrait of the kind of community I would eventually build — one where trans people are not merely accepted, but given the same freedom of messy queer chaos as anyone else.

Watch Valencia!

FISH, Southern for Pussy, Mother Comes to Venus by Zackary Drucker

Transparent also led me to the work of producer Zackary Drucker. I found FISH (full title: FISH: A Matrilineage of Cunty White Women Realness) and Southern for Pussy on Vimeo, and they blew my mind. I don’t think I’d even knowingly met another trans woman at that point — and watching Zackary on camera, creating her own art, being funny and weird and crass, and doing this with her mother! It was incredible.

Watch Southern for Pussy! Watch Mother Comes to Venus!

The Drive North, N Train, Secret Men’s Club: Moment #133, The Thing, This is Me, We’ve Been Around, Adam by Rhys Ernst

It’s no secret that I loved last year’s big trans controversy of a movie Adam. But one thing that annoyed me throughout the whole discussion was how few people knew director Rhys Ernst. Rhys was also a producer on Transparent and during my first year post-transition I eagerly went through all his shorts that I could find. I’ve been making super low budget movies since I was in high school and watching Rhys’ work — including a movie he made before transitioning — felt like watching my own. I could see him develop as an artist through these films, as I’d done with so many film artists as far back as watching Martin Scorsese’s early shorts in middle school. Rhys’ work reassured me that coming out didn’t mean I’d have to change my goals — it would just give me new stories to tell.

Watch The Drive North! Watch Secret Men’s Club: Moment #133! Watch The Thing! Watch This is Me! Watch We’ve Been Around! Watch Adam!

She Gone Rogue by Zackary Drucker, Rhys Ernst

My favorite work by Zackary and Rhys — and one of my very favorite movies of all time — is the short they made together. My appreciation for trans media that actively engages with our history is weaved throughout this list and She Gone Rogue, which costars Holly Woodlawn, Vaginal Davis, and Flawless Sabrina, certainly does that. With overt references to Maya Deren, it was such a beautiful combination of the film history I knew so well and the trans history I was finally learning.

Watch She Gone Rogue!

Women in Revolt by Holly Woodlawn, Candy Darling, Jackie Curtis

This one is cheating a bit. Technically it was written and directed by cis man Paul Morrissey and produced by cis man Andy Warhol. However, I’m going to go ahead and give writing credit — and honestly directing credit — to its trio of trans stars. Casting “female impersonators” as members of the women’s liberation movement was supposed to be the ultimate satire, but Morrissey and Warhol underestimated their actors. Largely improvising their dialogue, Woodlawn, Darling, and Curtis take over this movie and make it into a satire of both the cis women they’re portraying and their cis male collaborators. It’s remarkable to witness — especially given that it was made in 1971 — and started me on a mission to watch every on-screen appearance of the three of them. I still haven’t succeeded and if anyone knows where I can find the Holly Woodlawn-starring Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers I will literally marry you.

Women in Revolt got pulled from YouTube?? Ugh. Well, I’ll update this whenever I find a copy.

Glen or Glenda by Shirley Wood

Part of the appeal of Women in Revolt was getting to see transfeminine people on screen as far back as the 70s. But in the 50s one trans woman put herself and other “crossdressers” into her own movie. Like many suburban kids, I went through a Tim Burton phase and at that time watched his Johnny Depp-starring biopic of Shirley Wood. Film culture made her into a joke and, look, a lot of her movies are not very good, but Glen or Glenda is a miracle. I couldn’t believe that this movie I’d seen recreated by Tim Burton was actually a portrait of a queer trans woman made by a queer trans woman. It’s filled with self-hatred and misinformation, but it’s also a rather beautiful plea for understanding — from others and self. It brought me comfort to know we were managing to make movies about our experiences as far back as the 50s. It brings me comfort now.

Shirley’s work deserves reexamination — especially this film — and she at least deserves to be called by the name she preferred.

Watch Glen or Glenda!

Her Story by Jen Richards, Sydney Freeland

Speaking of queer trans women, there’s really nothing like Her Story. Jen Richards and Laura Zak’s Emmy-nominated web series is literally the only time I’ve seen a trans woman casually have a queer love story on screen. Sense8 is amazing, but it’s an ensemble action show in a heightened reality. Boy Meets Girl is sweet, but the actual love story is… in the title. We just have Her Story. Tell me I’m wrong in the comments and I’ll be thrilled, but I don’t think I am. Well! How lucky are we that this one web series also happens to be so fucking amazing?? My attachment is to its central love story but it also stars the always incredible Angelica Ross and is just so well-written by Jen and Laura and so well-directed by Sydney Freeland! But I really can’t say enough about that love story. Watching Jen and Laura walk down a city street flirting and eating ice cream altered my brain. I sometimes wonder what it might be like to live in the world if those 3.5 minutes were as commonplace on screen as they should be.

Watch Her Story!

Drunktown’s Finest by Sydney Freeland

I try not to concern myself with reviews, but the way critics (white, cis) treated Her Story director Sydney Freeland’s debut feature fills me with so much anger. I’ve been tapped into film culture for a long time and so many of the best films made each year — even the best films that premiere at renowned festivals — will never be on your radar if you don’t know to search for them. Freeland’s film about the intersecting lives of three young Navajo people — including a trans woman played by Carmen Moore — is an incredible movie. Despite its low budget and contained setting, something about it feels epic. The characters are so full and lived in and the way they intersect feels natural in a way similar, more well-known films do not. Freeland’s second film, Deidra and Laney Rob a Train, has an all-cis cast, but it’s also great. I’m glad she’s been getting so many TV directing jobs, but I really hope she gets the chance to make more films soon. I just love her work so much.

Watch Drunktown’s Finest!

The Personal Things, Atlantic is a Sea of Bones, Happy Birthday, Marsha! by Tourmaline

During a post-screening Q&A at BAM a couple years ago, Tourmaline said, “We have huge surpluses that other people think are lacks. And that makes the best art and that makes the best film.” Through her archival work, activism, and filmmaking, Tourmaline’s commitment to trans — specifically Black transfeminine — past, present, and future has shifted the way even the mainstream discusses queer and trans history.

To say she is also an incredible artist is to miss the point. Her films are incredible because of who she is, because of her knowledge, because of her commitment to those who are no longer with us, those who are, and those who will be. I don’t remember how I first stumbled upon her film about Egyptt LaBeija, Atlantic is a Sea of Bones, but I think about it often and it remains one of my very favorite films.

Watch The Personal Things! Watch Atlantic is a Sea of Bones! Watch Happy Birthday, Marsha!

Danger & Eggs by Shadi Petosky

This is an Emmy-winning Amazon series, but “indie” doesn’t really exist with children’s media so let me make this exception. There are only 13 episodes of Shadi Petosky’s animated series about aspiring stunt person D.D. Danger and her anxious egg friend, Phillip, but each one is filled with so much weird imagination, chaotic fun, and casual queer and transness. For a few months, I’d pick one day each week to get high and eat ice cream and watch an episode and it was so incredibly soothing. I think Danger & Eggs made me feel the way She-Ra makes a lot of the cis queer women I know feel. Just, “wow what if I had this when I was a kid.”

Watch Danger & Eggs!

I want to kill myself by Vivek Shraya

I’ve already written about how much I love Vivek Shraya’s writing and music, but she’s also a filmmaker! This photo essay about Vivek’s lifelong experience with suicidal ideation resonated deeply. Suicide is a large part of queer and trans narratives, but there’s a difference between the way mainstream media exploits our pain and the way Vivek tells a personal story of learning to vocalize her own.

Coming out did not cure my depression, nor is my depression always prompted by experiences of transphobia. It’s just something I live with and manage. It’s rare to witness anyone be this vulnerable about suicidal ideation, but it’s especially rare from a trans person, and I’m grateful for this film. Also it was just announced that Vivek’s one woman show How to Fail as a Popstar is being developed into a pilot?? So expect more things to watch from her soon!

Watch I want to kill myself!

Phineas Slipped by Cary Cronenwett

I saw this at a short lived weekly trans movie night. I spent the whole evening thinking the woman who screened it was trans, because, ya know, trans movie night, but turned out she was just cis and horny. Bless. This short is about a room full of transmasculine schoolboys having dirty daydreams. It’s basically 15 minutes of transmascs artfully fucking each other and it’s fantastic. As trans people we’re often sexualized by cis people, so it’s a treat to watch us sexualize ourselves whether in the context of porn or an avant garde short film. No matter who’s watching this short the gaze remains specifically trans — and look if that cis woman wants to enjoy it that’s fine too.

I can’t find this online! You’ll have to track down that horny cis woman!

Intimidade by Liniker de Barros Ferreira Campos

I could make a whole separate list of music videos from trans artists, but I did want to include this one here, because I just love it so much. It’s sexy and sensual and Liniker costars with Linn da Quebrada who is also a trans woman. When I talk about wanting to see queer trans women on screen, I think the assumption is I mean trans women with cis women. But that is not what I mean! The only time I get to see trans women together on screen is in porn and sure that’s great, but it’d be nice if there was more! This music video is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and I watch it all the time and you should watch it too.

Watch Intimidade!

Ryans, Razor Tongue by Rain Valdez

As I wrote in my review of Razor Tongue, Rain Valdez has a sharp understanding of the romcom genre and she’s using that understand to tell stories of trans women falling in love on screen. I love trans art that has a total disregard for the cis media that came before, but I also think there’s something really powerful about taking a genre like the romcom and inserting oneself into it. Everything Rain does has a feeling of authenticity and depth and it makes for work that’s as meaningful as it is fun.

Watch Ryans! Watch Razor Tongue!

Framing Agnes by Chase Joynt

I’m ending with this short experimental documentary for a few reasons. It’s a film engaged in trans history. It features other prominent trans creators such as Zackary Drucker, Silas Howard, and Angelica Ross. And it’s currently being turned into a feature film co-written by multihyphenate trans artist Morgan M Page. While I was going on this journey of trans media consumption I was also devouring her phenomenal trans history podcast, One from the Vaults. For me, our history and our film and television are the same. It’s about what stories are told about us and what stories we tell about ourselves. Centering trans artists in our viewing, listening, and reading is making a commitment to the authenticity of our narratives. It’s what we deserve. It’s what we should demand.

I’m sure Disclosure would’ve been a very different film if it had been made by cis people. May that never be possible again.

Watch Framing Agnes! Listen to One From the Vaults!

My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Films: Drew Gregory

In My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies, various members of Autostraddle’s TV Team tell you about the movies nearest and dearest to our hearts and invite you to like all the same things we like. Today, writer and tv/film critic Drew Gregory shares feelings about her favorite films of all time.

I think the takeaway from these ten movies is that I’m a film nerd (of course) and a romantic (gross).

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10. Je Tu Il Elle

free on Criterion

Arthouse films were my first introduction to lesbian cinema — almost all of them were made by men. When I finally discovered Chantal Akerman it was a revelation. It wasn’t just her portrayal of queerness. It was her portrayal of womanhood, depression, and queerness. The first half hour of this movie takes place in one room with Akerman depressed as she struggles to leave her house and the last ten minutes is a sex scene with Akerman depressed as she fucks someone she shouldn’t. Representation is important.

9. Princess Cyd

free on Amazon Prime

This movie is pleasure. It’s sexual pleasure. It’s intellectual pleasure. It’s the pleasure of being human. One of my favorite things about being a person is talking to people whose experiences of the world vary drastically from my own. I love how our brains are all so different, how our desires are all so different. This movie celebrates those differences while satisfying them all. I want to live in its warmth. Also shoutout to Autostraddle’s own Malic White being sexy in the still.

8. Multiple Maniacs

rent for $2.99 // free on HBO Max, Tubi, and Criterion

John Waters’ particular brand of camp is more often associated with queer men, but I have a great affinity for his point of view. Very little lesbian cinema is inclusive to AMAB gender-nonconformity (or AMAB anything honestly) and it delights me to watch Divine’s queer chaos. Mink Stole fucking her with a rosary in a church is one of my all-time favorite lesbian sex scenes. For once, I think our community could learn something from the cis boys… or at the very least from John Waters and only John Waters.

7. Bound

rent for $3.99 // free on HBO Max

A perfect neo-noir perfectly queered with perfect lesbian sex scenes and the Wachowskis’ perfect style. God this movie is a delicious treat. I feel a specific affection for it, because I just love the idea of these two closeted trans women making a movie with such a sharp lesbian gaze when they were still being billed as brothers. Iconic.

6. Carol

rent for $3.99

I feel like this movie is a bit like The L Word in that it’s been so heavily memed by our community that many have begun to loathe it and many more have simply forgotten its artistry. Todd Haynes is one of the greatest living filmmakers and his style was perfectly suited for Patricia Highsmith’s book and Phyllis Nagy’s screenplay. Relationships with age differences are common in our community and in our cinema, but rarely is the dynamic explored with such nuance. I think about Carol’s letter often. “Please don’t be angry when I tell you that you seek resolutions and explanations because you’re young.” Ugh I do, don’t I??

5. All Over Me

Unavailable

Stills from this movie are my phone wallpapers and they make me happy every time I look at them. All Over Me just feels like ours, you know? It’s so thoroughly gay and filled with gay feelings. There are a lot of great queer women coming-of-age movies — in fact, it’s my favorite subgenre — but this stands out for me, because it’s so obviously made by us and for us. It’s also the only one to feature Leisha Hailey with pink hair.

4. Saving Face

free on Amazon Prime

I know Alice Wu doesn’t label her movies as romcoms, but they’re the romcoms I most want to see. Because, yes, this is a delightful romance with a happy ending. But it’s not afraid of reality. It’s not afraid to go beyond its romance. If love is going to exist — which, ugh, I guess it does — then it’s going to exist within the messiness of our lives. It’s going to exist alongside our families and our cultures and our hopes and our fears. It’s going to be hard and it’s going to take risk. But it’s possible. And it’s worth it. That’s how Saving Face makes me feel. It’s the best lesbian romcom of all time. It’s the best romcom period.

3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

rent for $2.99 // free on Hulu

I’ve written a review, interviewed Céline Sciamma, and cut a 4,500 word essay out of my heart. I’m not sure what else I can say. It’s strange I first saw this movie in the fall. It’s already such a part of me.

2. Desert Hearts

rent for $3.99 // free on Showtime

Straight people have Casablanca. We have Desert Hearts. This is a classic. But it’s our classic. So, yes, it has sweeping romance and beautiful cinematography, but it’s also filled with gay chaos, a dash of platonic intimacy, and so much eroticism. It’s remarkable that Donna Deitch made this film in the 80s. It would be remarkable now. I can’t even tell you how often I think of Cay Rivers saying, “I don’t act that way to change the world. I act that way so that the goddamn world won’t change me!” I can’t even tell you how often I think of Cay Rivers.

1. The Watermelon Woman

free on Amazon Prime // free on Kanopy and Criterion

I’ve dedicated my life to movies, but they’ve dedicated none of their time to me. I’ve never actually seen my lesbian story on screen. That’s why Cheryl Dunye’s first feature is so important to me. When Dunye didn’t see her story, she made it herself. But The Watermelon Woman isn’t just her story on screen — it’s also the searching, the wanting, the necessity of that story. I’ll never stop searching for facets of myself and other underrepresented groups in the history of cinema. (Because it’s amazing what does exist!) But I also know I have to make it myself. I have to make my own history. This movie is my inspiration.

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Movies that almost made the list: But I’m a Cheerleader, Pariah, Mädchen in Uniform, Fucking Åmål, Set Me Free, In Between, Dyketactics, D.E.B.S., Glen or Glenda, Manji, Olivia, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Foxfire, Memento Mori, Dirty Computer, Blue Gate Crossing, Good Manners, The Children’s Hour, Water Lilies, Persona, A Date for Mad Mary, Second Star on the Right, Mommy is Coming, Certain Women, The Half Of It, and so many more!!

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Want more movies? Check out Autostraddle’s 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time.

My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies: Carmen, President of the Dee Rees and Queen Latifah Fan Club

In My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies, various members of Autostraddle’s TV Team tell you about the movies nearest and dearest to our hearts and invite you to like all the same things we like. Today, Autostraddle Senior Editor Carmen Phillips shares feelings about her favorite lesbian films of all time.

Hello, I am mostly here to swoon over Dee Rees, in my opinion the greatest queer filmmaker of our time. Alright! Let’s get started!

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10. Rent

rent for $3.99 // free on Starz

I’m going to start this list by keeping it 100. Rent is not a great movie, and to be really honest it’s not even a good movie. But Rent is an important queer story, and in fact it’s my favorite queer story. The magic of the world that Jonathan Larson created surpasses any genre, and that includes this admittedly lackluster film. Rent is best enjoyed Rocky Horror style, singing at the top of your lungs with your friends. And there’s no better way to do that than with a movie — I mean you can’t do it in a theatre (that would be disrespectful to the actors!). So let that be a lesson for us all: Even imperfect art can serve the greater good.

9. Blockers

rent for $3.99

Blockers is the perfect example of my favorite kind of comedy, which is basically “What are the dumb shit gangs of girls can get into?” I love comedies that are essentially frat boy humor, but without any of the latent misogyny that the genre usually comes with. Blockers is refreshingly and surprisingly feminist, full of those girl power friendship tropes that I eat up like the most comforting junk food, and more important — its legitimately side-splitting funny. It’s well intentioned and so, so good.

8. Gia

rent for $3.99 // free on HBO

The first time I saw Gia I was 13 years old and I thought Angelina Jolie was the height of glamour. I completely just skipped over the part where Gia dies because, I mean, have you seen her lips? Jolie’s performance is the very definition of magnetic. Anyway, now I’m gay.

7. Black Swan

rent for $3.99

I don’t love horror films. I like to be in control of my emotions. It’s that same quest for perfectionism that underscores Black Swan — which is probably why I am so drawn to it. Darren Aronofsky’s direction is bewitching, purposefully dancing the line between beauty and madness. And sure, that sex scene between Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis is legendary for a reason. But also, Portman’s Academy Award winning performance haunts long after the final frame. Black Swan is every Type A personality’s worst nightmare, and goddess help me — I can’t turn away.

6. A Simple Favor

free on Amazon Prime

I saw A Simple Favor about a year after everyone one else in my social circle, and the worst part of that experience was that I kept wanting to yell, “THIS IS SO GOOD!?! HOW DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT THIS!?!?” except literally everyone had told me it was that good and I chose to ignore them. If you’re reading this list and haven’t yet seen A Simple Favor, please don’t repeat my mistake. It’s both gayer than you expect and exactly as campy as you expect. It’s an incredibly solid neo-noir mystery without sacrificing any of Ana Kendrick’s comedic chops. Blake Lively was born to be the woman that her next door neighbor erotically obsesses over, and A Simple Favor takes none of that delicious tension for granted.

5. Dope

rent for $3.99

Here’s the thing about Dope: it’s far, faaar from my favorite lesbian story. I love Kiersey Clemons, but this isn’t her strongest queer performance by a mile (for that, please see Hearts Beat Loud). I realize that key technicality should kick this movie out of the Top 10 for a website like Autostraddle, but Dope is one of my favorite movies overall and forever. It’s part teen comedy (which given my inclusion of Blockers on this list, you can probably tell I have an appreciation for), part heist mystery (see also: A Simple Favor, ranked lower and Set It Off ranked much higher), but most importantly it is so sweetly and effortlessly and casually Black. A complete love letter to nerdy ass black kids and the black communities we grew up in. That matters. The few movies that are about black nerds often have them existing within a whitewashed reality, but I’m a black nerd who grew up in Detroit. The Dope kids are growing up in an equally black Inglewood. I want more black movies that are about smart black teens who are part of the fabric of their own neighborhood. And that’s why this movie is ranked so high on my list.

4. Saving Face

free on Amazon Prime

What else is there to even say? Saving Face is iconic for a reason. Alice Wu’s only film for sixteen years (shout out toThe Half of It, Wu’s latest entry into the romance genre, which premiered on Netflix just last month) is as funny and swoon worthy as the best of its peers. It’s enchanting and nearly wistful, but also incredibly rooted in the reality of a Chinese immigrant community in Queens, NY. It doesn’t sacrifice specificity of space or character to tell what ultimately became the most singularly beloved queer love story of at least two generations. It doesn’t get better than that.

3. Set It Off

rent for $2.99 // free on HBO Max

I really want to just yell “Set It Off is perfect!” and go, but I’m paid to be here, so here’s some additional words: Set It Off is my favorite tribute to the intimacy and joy and depth of friendship between black women. It’s also one of my favorite action movies. It’s a stark and clear-eyed depiction of the intertwined nature of systemic racism and capitalism, police violence, and a perfect tribute to the Black Lives Matter moment — 25 years ahead of its time. But 25 years ago is also right now and is also 40 years ago or, shit, 100 years ago. Time and again, black women in America continue to only have each other to depend on when all the chips are down. In Set It Off, F. Gary Gray understands that like no other, which is why this film remains an absolute stand out.

2. Bessie

buy for $9.99 // free on HBO or HBO Max

Bessie is my second most-loved Dee Rees film (hold on one second for #1). It’s a stunning testimonial to black queer women artists who live — and die — by their own defiant rules. It’s also only the dedicated period piece (at least that I know of) that’s entirely centered from the point of view and lived experience of a black queer woman. Its costumes and lighting are lush, the music energizes, and as Bessie Smith, Queen Latifah is the best she’s ever been in her career. More than that, Mo’Nique’s captivating portrayal of Ma Rainey never fully got the respect it deserved. When the two women share the screen together, the sparks that Rees was able to grab ahold to with her camera are nothing short of magic. Bessie would hands down be my favorite queer film of all time, if it were not for…

1. Pariah

rent for $0.99

Welcome to the elite circle. Pariah is so much more than my favorite queer film, it is, in my opinion, a class of its own, bar none. Dee Rees’ major release debut is a marvel, poignant as it is loving. Bradford Young has already defined a generation of black cinematography, but here his choice of color stupefies. Black skin has never been so beautiful. Adepero Oduye’s performance in this coming-of-age is the kind of majesty that all of our young, baby gay selves deserve to be seen in. The end result is a film that’s simultaneously heartbreaking and triumphant. I can only imagine how intimidating it must be to create such perfection in your first nationwide outing. In a recent interview with Jenna Wortham for The New York Times, Rees described the goals for her legacy as eloquently and simply as: “I want to create work that matters and lasts.” Her only challenge is her own greatness. That’s never been more clear than in Pariah.

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Movies that almost made the list: Hearts Beat Loud, Pride, Imagine Me & You, Frida, Grandma, The Incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love, The Children’s Hour, Mosquita y Mari, Dirty Computer, D.E.B.S., The Watermelon Woman, But I’m a Cheerleader

Want more movies? Check out Autostraddle’s 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time.

My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies: Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

In My Top 10 Favorite Lesbian Movies, various members of Autostraddle’s TV Team tell you about the movies nearest and dearest to our hearts and invite you to like all the same things we like. Today, writer and critic Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya shares feelings about her favorite lesbian films of all time.

Hello, it’s me, the List Hater back again with another list. As with my list of favorite television shows, this list of my personal top queer movies is not static, because neither am I!

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10. Tie: Bound/Black Swan

rent Black Swan for $3.99
rent Bound for $3.99 // free on HBO Max

Erotic thrillers! I love them! I wish there were more explicitly gay ones! Bound remains such a hot dyke-noir. As for Black Swan, the mix of ballet and horror is something I am extremely drawn to.

9. The Half Of It

free on Netflix

A complicated, evolving friendship between a closeted queer girl and a straight boy is not usually what I’m seeking out in my teen movies, and yet IT IS DONE SO WELL HERE. This movie really tells such a beautiful and intimate story about teens figuring themselves out, and yes both of Alice Wu’s feature films made it onto this list.

8. D.E.B.S.

rent for $3.99

I would like to make a formal complaint about the dearth of lesbian action films in Hollywood. It is absolutely a dream of mine to make one one day, and D.E.B.S. is a formative influence.

7. Carol

rent for $3.99

A story about lesbian lovers with an age gap that’s gorgeous and sad but also lil hopeful? That is all EXTREMELY my shit. Love the book, love the movie, love the differences between the two.

6. The Favourite

buy for $7.99 // free on Cinemax

A weirdo period thriller about obsession, power, control… yes, this is yet another movie that is extremely my shit. To be fair, I think I could watch Rachel Weisz and Olivia Coleman do just about anything for two hours.

5. Pariah

rent for $0.99

I love all of Dee Rees’ work. All of it is so visually stunning, and that’s especially true for Pariah. It’s such an intimate and complex work of art, and it falls in that perfect area of acknowledging queer struggle without sensationalizing it.

4. Appropriate Behavior

rent for $2.99 // free on Tubi and Vudu

I am a huge fan of Desiree Akhavan’s entire body of work, but Appropriate Behavior stands out for me. Its exploration of cultural expectations, heartbreak, family, and work is all very tight, funny, poignant.

3. The Handmaiden

free on Amazon Prime

Ah yes, another erotic thriller on the list. More! Lesbian! Heist! Movies! Please!!!!! I wish I could experience this movie for the first time all over again (ditto for the book). The distinctly queer erotics in the visuals of this movie… fuck me up!

2. The Watermelon Woman

free on Amazon Prime // free on Kanopy and Criterion

Film history! Really hot sex! A smart and incisive critique of racism in Hollywood! This movie has it ALL. For me, it’s one of those movies where I’m down to watch it pretty much anytime. Cheryl Dunye is so fucking good at her crafts.

1. Saving Face

free on Amazon Prime

This is!!!! A perfect movie!!!!!!!! Dance movies are one of my favorite subgenres of movies, and this is absolutely a dance movie and a GAY ONE AT THAT.

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Movies that almost made the list: But I’m A Cheerleader, Booksmart, Disobedience, Circumstance, The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Want more movies? Check out Autostraddle’s 200 Best Lesbian Movies of All Time.

10 Sad (But Non-Lethal) Movies for the Casually Depressed Queer Woman

There is no shortage of lesbian+ movies filled with tragedy. Check out the canon of queer women cinema and you might just think suicide and terminal illness outrank astrology when it comes to lesbian culture.

These tropes have been met with a backlash of queer audiences shouting for stories with happy endings. At least once a week I send a list of “happy lesbian movies” to someone on Twitter. It might not seem like it, but there actually are quite a few happy masterpieces of lesbian cinema: Bound, Saving Face, But I’m a Cheerleader, Desert Hearts, Carol if you interpret that final look the way I interpret that final look, the list goes on and on.

But what about depressing lesbian+ movies that aren’t tragic? What about movies where no queer women die but maybe a queer woman spends the whole movie low-key wanting to die? And not because of homophobia! Look, homophobia and transphobia obviously impact my life, but most of the time my depression has little to do with either.

The women on this list are sad because they’re self-destructive or have had their hearts broken or just have good ol’ fashion mental illness.

Maybe you’ve been separated from your lover because your homophobic society won’t accept your love. If so DM me and I’ll send you 350 movies to watch. But personally I’m sad because sometimes life is just really hard.

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10. Certain Women (2016, Kelly Reichardt)

Yes, this movie is called Certain Women, but it could also be called Sad Women. This triptych of stories has renowned lesbian auteur Kelly Reichardt’s famous touch of melancholy. The gay story of the three finds Lily Gladstone’s rancher falling hard for Kristen Stewart’s part-time law professor. They sort of connect, but it’s pretty one-sided. What might have been a grand romantic gesture in a romcom is instead an awkward failure. Oh well. Guess it’s better to try and fail than to never try for anything.

9. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)

The women are almost as beautiful as the costumes in this arthouse classic, but this painful film is far from pretty. Fashion designer Petra von Kant has an assistant named Marlene who she treats terribly and a new love named Karin who she fauns over miserably. Petra is cruel. Karin is cruel. Even in her own way, Marlene is cruel. They’re awful to each other and it results in a lot of despair. It also takes place entirely in one room just like me when I’m depressed.

8. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018, Marielle Heller)

Lee Israel is lonely and unsuccessful because she’s mean and unpleasant. Melissa McCarthy makes no attempts at likability in her portrayal of Israel, but she does reveal her humanity. As we watch her make a friend, fall into fraud, and even go on a date, we begin to feel like maybe Israel’s flaws aren’t so different from our own. And maybe there’s still something worthwhile about her. She never really changes. She never really learns to compromise. She never really cuts down on her drinking. But she’s smart. And she’s funny. And she loved her cat. Oh right, sorry, a warning. There is one death in this one.

7. The Summer of Sangailė (2015, Alante Kavaite)

When we meet Sangailė she’s obsessed with becoming a pilot but terrified of flying. She has no friends and she engages in frequent self-harm. But then she meets Austė. The two develop a romance and there are moments of real passion. But this isn’t a love story. Austė helps Sangailė overcome her fears and stop hurting herself. And then the summer ends. There’s a limit to how much we can grow. There’s a limit to how much we can help those we fall for. It’s not that their meeting isn’t special. It’s not that their lives aren’t changed forever. It’s just that there are limits. Some things aren’t meant to last more than the time they last.

6. Set Me Free (1999, Léa Pool)

Before she made everyone’s favorite falcon suicide boarding school movie, Léa Pool made this far quieter – but equally sad – coming of age tale. Hannah is a 13-year-old with a terrible home life and a painful crush on her teacher. Then she meets a cute girl only for the girl to start dating her brother. (Do you remember how shitty it was to be 13??) But Hannah does what I did at that age and clearly still do now – she turns to cinema. She becomes obsessed with Anna Karina in Jean-Luc Godard’s Vivre sa vie, captivated by her beauty and her sadness. It’s an escape – a safe place to wallow. And this film is itself a safe place to wallow, and, of course, a great reminder that no matter what’s going on in your life at least you aren’t 13. (Unless you are 13 in which case I’m so glad you’re reading Autostraddle in middle school! You’re already doing better than I was!)

5. Eva + Candela (2018, Ruth Caudeli)

Queer women can have little a Blue Valentine as a treat. Like that heterosexual heartbreaker, Ruth Caudeli’s remarkable debut jumps in time between Eva and Candela falling in love and Eva and Candela falling apart. Alejandra Lara and Silvia Varón have so much chemistry in the scenes from the past it makes you want to climb into the screen and yell at them to get over their bullshit and work things out. But that’s not how movies work and it’s not how life works. Sometimes people are meant to be in love for a period of time and then they’re no longer meant to be in love. The end doesn’t take away from the beginning. The end doesn’t take away from all the years of partnership. The end is just a moment in time like all the other moments.

4. I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987, Patricia Rozema)

Everyone around Polly thinks she’s goofy and simple – including her art curator boss who she’s secretly in love with. But underneath her light-hearted veneer she’s a person with big wants and quiet dreams. She lacks the confidence to assert herself but that doesn’t mean she’s content. We watch as she stumbles through attempts at more, her interior captured by Patricia Rozema’s divine cinematic creativity. There’s something inspiring about these attempts. Polly may be sad but she has so much life within her.

3. Appropriate Behavior (2014, Desiree Akhavan)

Shirin thought she met the only person in the world as sad and cynical as herself. She thought they were meant to be. Now in the wake of her break up she’s spiraling in a flurry of bisexual chaos. Writer/director/star Desiree Akhavan is a once-in-a-generation talent and her humor makes this an easy movie to watch. It may be painful in its relatability, but if you’re reading this list you’re already in pain so at least this movie will make you laugh. And while it does deal somewhat with homophobia – Shirin is struggling to come out to her family – it’s treated as one challenging aspect of her life instead of an all-consuming force. The truth is being queer does make things more difficult and does mean some of us are learning how to be people later than usual. Self-hatred and delayed adulthood get mixed in with the usual bullshit of life and sometimes it’s all just too much and all you can do is make some poor sexual decisions.

2. Je Tu Il Elle (1974, Chantal Akerman)

See below.

1. Les rendez-vous d’Anna (1978, Chantal Akerman)

Chantal Akerman invented a cinematic language of depression. The specific way she used long takes settles us into the sadness of her protagonists. There’s a lack of drama to it all – a dullness. I guess some people think she’s boring, but those people are wrong. She is still the only filmmaker to ever capture the exact feeling of my gay depression. These two films are especially gay and depressing and if you need to wallow you should put your phone away, turn on one of these movies, and sink into her world. When the movie ends you may just feel a lightness to your spirit. You may just feel like things aren’t so bad after all. You may just feel comforted in your recognition and inspired by her artistry. I mean, how bad can life really be when you get to watch Chantal Akerman movies?

The 11 Best Lesbian and Bisexual Movies of 2019

LGBTQ TV and LGBTQ movies remain nearly impossible to rank at the end of every year, but for completely different reasons. With TV, the medium has evolved so much it’s impossible to consume and process all of it! (Hey but we tried.) With movies, it’s the opposite thing, and even when, like last year, there are plenty of movies to rank, it’s hardly ever apples-to-apples comparisons. What is “best” when you’re comparing films made by queer people for queer audiences, pretty okay Netflix movies with wide reach and only gay supporting characters, celebrated foreign films, indie films that only get released in New York and LA, blockbusters with huge reach and only hints at queerness, films that never make it off queer festival circuits, and on and on?

Things are getting brighter in the world of queer cinema, but we’ve still got a long way to go! For now, I’ve rounded up the best movies of 2019 that you can actually watch (by which I mean they are streaming, in theaters, or have sold streaming rights and have a projected streaming date in place). I’d love to hear about your favorite queer movies of 2019 in the comments!

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Portrait of a Lady on Fire (In theaters)

“Portrait of a Lady on Fire is not simply a work of the female gaze, it is not simply a work of lesbian cinema. It is pushing against the boundaries of the screen, frantically, lovingly, desperately, erotically, grasping grasping grasping for a new language, a new way of seeing.” — Drew Gregory 

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Wild Nights With Emily (Streaming February 2020)

“During one of their meetings, Higginson tells Emily, “When I read your poetry, Miss Dickinson, I’m left feeling… I’m not sure what.” He could be paraphrasing the countless reviews written by male critics about queer and feminist art throughout history. Emily demures, but she could have told him that her poetry, like this film, was written without a man in mind.” — Heather Hogan

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Booksmart (Hulu, Amazon)

“The flavor may change slightly depending on how much of each ingredient you use, and the way those ingredients interact with each other, but the recipe for high school comedies remains largely the same. Enter Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, a film that honors and skewers the genre. It also does what Mean Girls wouldn’t: It makes a main girl gay.” — Heather Hogan

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Her Smell (Amazon)

Elisabeth Moss has played a lot of characters in her career, but none like Becky Something, a queer, narcissistic rockstar on a spiral into oblivion. Becky is a Joan Jett archetype dialed up to a zillion, destroying everything — men, women, herself — on her path to superstardom and burnout.

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The Heiresses (Amazon)

Around here, we love a good queer midlife crisis that results in a sexual awakening, and Marcelo Martinessi’s film delivers that in glorious detail. Chela’s (Ana Brun) partner is arrested and in her quest to earn enough money to bail her out, after selling some family heirlooms, she decides to pick up a few shits as a taxi driver. A younger passenger sets her yearning in motion and the payoff is exquisite.

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Vita & Virginia (Hulu, Amazon)

Vita & Virginia wasn’t what it wanted to be, but it’s still a really solid film about real life gal pals Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West whose letters remain some of the most gut-punchingly romantic pieces of writing I have read to this day. It’s an absolutely fine afternoon diversion and frankly we need more lesbian films in that category.

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Bombshell (In theaters)

“As a person who group up inside the cult of Fox News, and who spent years researching it academically to write about it, and who remembers every moment of the 2016 election in excruciating detail, I had absolutely no desire to watch Bombshell — until Riese told me Kate McKinnon finally plays an actual lesbian in it. I’m not talking about dyke-y hair and gun-licking as subtext. I’m not talking about just her general way. I’m talking about Kate McKinnon’s character having sex with Margot Robbie’s character and their relationship becoming the most emotionally resonant thing in the entire movie.” — Heather Hogan

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Charlie’s Angels (Streaming Summer 2020)

“And I’m going to go ahead and say it: Stewart’s Sabina is absolutely queer, even if it’s mostly subtextual. For some, there won’t be enough “evidence” to declare her a queer character, and I understand that to a degree. She’s certainly not out here kissing women between fight scenes (honestly, Cameron Diaz and Demi Moore come closer to kissing in Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle than any two women in this movie do), but that shouldn’t really be the sole marker of a character’s queerness. We see Sabina rather obviously check out a woman at the gym, and a lot of what she says about her past is seemingly intentionally ambiguous about her sexuality. Also, I’m not so sure Elena doesn’t have an ex-girlfriend, too, but I don’t want to give too much away.” — Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

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Wine Country (Netflix)

“It’s all wine and good times and inside jokes and singing and flirting (by Val with a server named Jade) on their first night in Napa, but when Cherry Jones shows up to give an inspired performance as an erratic, misanthropic tarot reader during their Saturday hangover, things take a turn for testy. The more vineyards they visit, the more wine they drink, the more they individually unravel; and then begins their collective cracking. Wine Country isn’t just womanhood and women’s friendships; it’s specifically middle age womanhood and friendships.” — Heather Hogan

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Someone Great (Netflix)

“I think Someone Great was very effective in throwing its audience into the deep end and then working its way backwards, so that you got to know all of the characters better via flashbacks. One of the reasons that works is because… we all know what we signed up for before we hit play on the Netflix queue, right? We know a “girl power rom-com” and all its clichés. I appreciate that Someone Great didn’t try and pretend it was something it wasn’t. BUT I also think it worked well because Gina Rodriguez, DeWanda Wise, and Brittany Snow are all very empathetic actors. You care for them and want to root for them right away.” — Carmen Phillips 

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Let it Snow (Netflix)

“The inclusion of a queer romance in a film like this is exciting enough on its own. But what makes it all the more exciting is both Hewson and Akana are queer in real life! Hewson is non-binary and gay and Akana is bisexual. They’re both so good in their roles, bringing their charm and authenticity. Most mainstream movies continue to cast straight actors in queer parts, so this casting in the most mainstream genre is pretty revolutionary.” — Drew Gregory 

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Sister Aimee (Amazon)

“There’s no evidence that Aimee Semple McPherson was queer. But there’s no evidence that a lot of historical figures did a lot of the things they do on screen. Buck and Schlingmann are the storytellers here and there’s no reason they shouldn’t inject some subtle queerness into this already enigmatic life. The Kennys of the world have long been telling stories through their lens and there’s nothing more truthful about that perspective. Aimee was a remarkable woman in the truest sense of the word, and she deserves this movie made with equal parts reverence and irreverence.” — Drew Gregory 

The 50 Best Lesbian, Queer, and Bisexual Movies of the Decade

I just want you all to feel seen.

It’s corny, it’s cliché, but it’s true. I want every lesbian, every queer woman, every non-binary person, I want us all to know that our stories matter, and that they’re being told, and that they’ve always been told, and that we deserve even more.

Whenever I’ve said to someone I was working on a Top 50 Lesbian+ Films of the Decade list I’ve been met with the same question: Were there really that many?

The answer: Yes, of course.

But there’s a follow-up question worth asking: If there were that many lesbian movies, why does it feel like there weren’t?

The fact is most of the films about us — and especially the films by us — do not get the attention they deserve. They don’t get the budgets they deserve, the awards they deserve, the acclaim they deserve. But that’s why we exist — that’s why Autostraddle exists — because while we may not be able to fund the trans lesbian action movie of your dreams, we can remind you of the rare queer films that joined the zeitgeist and we can bring your attention to all the others you may have missed.

The “short” list voted on by the entire Autostraddle team was 171 films. Voting took place in two parts: Everyone gave each film they’d personally seen a rating out of ten stars and then chose their top five favorites. The overall ratings were used to put together one list and the favorites were used to form another. Then those two lists were combined for what you see here. Films that had many people rate them were also weighted slightly higher on that list.

The intention of this algorithm was to prioritize films featuring underrepresented groups while still not discrediting popularity. I wanted this list to bring attention to our favorite underdiscussed movies, but also for it to act as a definitive reflection of the decade in lesbian+ cinema.

It’s worth noting how many of the films allowed us to actually tell our own stories. Here are a few stats for you:

+ 31/50 films feature out queer women or non-binary actors in major roles
+ 26/50 films were directed or co-directed by queer women or non-binary directors
+ 11/50 films were directed or co-directed by queer women or non-binary directors of color

There are four queer directors who each have two films on this list: Desiree Akhavan, Ruth Caudeli, Madeleine Olnek, and Dee Rees. There have always been queer women auteurs (*cough* Dorothy Arzner *cough*) but it’s exciting that there are now multiple filmmakers getting the access to build extensive filmographies of explicitly queer cinema.

These numbers highlight that nobody is better equipped to tell our stories than we are. Hopefully, the next decade brings less of a divide in regards to budget, genre, and awards — in this decade the higher the budget, the more likely the movie was directed by a cishet man. I also hope the next decade has more movies with queer characters who are POC, trans, and disabled.

Well, without further ado – here is the Autostraddle Best Lesbian+ Films of the Decade.

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50. Women Who Kill (dir. Ingrid Jungermann, 2016)

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As a fan of The Slope, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I found out Ingrid Jungermann’s debut feature was going to be a thriller. How would her comic slice-of-life sensibility fit within a heightened genre? Turns out – very, very well. Still as funny and sharply observant as her other work, Women Who Kill, captures the horror of trust issues. Sheila Vand is excellent at one moment being mysterious, alluring, and possibly murderous and the next moment just being a troubled woman trying to fall in love. Her contrast with Jungermann is really fun to watch, and, ultimately, rather heartbreaking. It works as a comedy, it works as a thriller, and it works as an emotional drama about a doomed queer romance. – Drew Gregory

49. The Summer of Sangaile (dir. Alante Kavaite, 2015)

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Alante Kavaite’s coming-of-age story about a queer teen obsessed with airplanes – and scared of heights – is deeply angsty and breathtakingly gorgeous. The lighting, the aerial photography, the costumes, the score, all make for a sensory experience that places you in the troubled mind of Sangaile. It’s a lovely tribute to the power of feeling truly seen, and an honest reflection on the limitations of love. Sangaile’s self-harm is handled with a fascinating balance of weight and levity. The film doesn’t minimize her mental illness or the severity of her actions, but it also never judges her. She’s a complicated person, right in the middle of the worst period of her life, and she’s trying. Julija Steponaityte and Aiste Dirziute are great as Sangaile and her new love, Auste. They have a chemistry that never quite clicks as we the audience understand their attraction and the limits of their teen summer romance. Sometimes love isn’t meant to last, but the few months we spend with a person changes who we are – who we can be – forever. – Drew Gregory

48. Wild Nights with Emily (dir. Madeleine Olnek, 2018)

Emily Dickinson’s queerness is really having a renaissance right now! But before Apple TV’s brilliant (and awesomely weird) TV series starring Hailee Steinfeld as the beloved poet wooing her brother’s girl with her poetry and wit, Molly Shannon starred in an even queerer and weirder adaptation of Dickinson’s life. Writer/director Madeleine Olnek’s brand of quirk is singular and she brings all of it to bear on Wild Nights With Emily, challenging not only the deliberate erasure of Dickinson’s gayness from the historical record, but also the idea that Dickinson was a dour, virginal spinster. In Olnek’s view, and in Shannon’s hands, Dickinson is no angsty recluse; she’s silly and compassionate and brilliant and warm and wise and full of life and wonder. Wild Nights is both ridiculous and completely resonant. Truth told just the way Dickinson liked it — at a slant. – Heather Hogan

47. Grandma (dir. Paul Weitz, 2015)

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I can’t really explain why I love Grandma as much as I do. Actually, that’s not true — I absolutely can, and I can do it in two words: Lily. Tomlin. If you’re a fan of the lesbian comedian, then you absolutely cannot miss what’s perhaps her finest role. In Grandma Lily Tomlin plays, well, a lesbian grandma (obvious, I know!) who abruptly puts everything on hold to help her granddaughter with a life-altering favor. It’s chopped full with Tomlin’s signature quirky warmth, but also there’s a seriousness underpinning her performance that you don’t always get to see in her other work. Did I mention it also has a guest starring role for Laverne Cox? If you ask me Cox’s comic timing is criminally under appreciated, and in Grandma it’s in fine form. – Carmen Phillips

46. Annihilation (dir. Alex Garland, 2018)

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Annihilation mutates several times over the course of its sci-fi-horror story, jumping around in times and tones but ultimately spinning an unsettling and gorgeously constructed narrative on identity and self-destruction. At its climax, the film delivers one of the most haunting, dialogue-free film sequences of the decade, one that lends itself to myriad interpretations. Its score is phenomenal, as are its performances, which ground the movie despite all the sci-fi weirdness unfolding throughout it. Tessa Thompson and Gina Rodriguez bring specificity and stakes to what could easily be set-dressing characters, and the latter harnesses a major tonal shift halfway through the movie with a classic manic horror performance. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

45. Kiss Me (dir. Alexandra-Therese Keining, 2011)

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Kiss Me is the kind of lesbian movie we as a community tend to mock. A woman engaged to a man suddenly falls for a lesbian she’s tangentially related to? It’s become its own niche cliché. But the writing and performances in Kiss Me elevate it beyond its premise, or, rather, show why this premise is so attractive to filmmakers in the first place. There’s a truth to Mia’s confusion and Frida’s impatience. The situations that are usually used as plot hurdles instead deepen the characters. Who is this queer person so deep in the closet? Who is this other queer person falling for her? Should they even be together? This is a fun and sexy romance that doesn’t require you to turn off your brain – but might turn it on. – Drew Gregory

44. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (dir. Marielle Heller, 2018)

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More movies should be as subdued as Can You Ever Forgive Me?, a charming comedy about an incredibly un-charming, real-life protagonist played by Melissa McCarthy in one of the best, most severe roles of her career. The movie lets biographer Lee Israel be acerbic in the way only tortured male artists usually get to be, but it also acknowledges the consequences of her intimacy issues, especially when it comes to her ex-girlfriend (Anna Deavere Smith), new love interest (Dolly Wells), and friend/co-conspirator (Richard E. Grant). Can You Ever Forgive Me? touches on financial anxiety, sexism in publishing, and forgiveness in its sharp but subtle storytelling where the relationship dynamics do the heavy-lifting. It’s a heist movie that feels incredibly low-stakes, and that’s part of its charm. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

43. Atomic Blonde (dir. David Leitch, 2017)

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It’s no secret that the plot of Atomic Blonde is incredibly unhinged and, frankly, incoherent, but I’m a true believer in the fact that queer women should be visible in all film canons, and that includes shitty action movies that are nonetheless thrilling, stylish, sexy, and impecably choreographed. Hand-to-hand combat scenes don’t get much better than this, which makes sense given that its director is a stunt performer and coordinator. Atomic Blonde is a rare action movie that’s aware of its characters’ bodies not just in terms of them being capable and attractive but as being fallible, too: How often do we get to see bodies tire and bruise in action? The film falls prey to all sorts of tropes (including That One), but a queer love story that gets to be emotional and hot woven into a flashy world of spy thrills is still, unfortunately, remarkable. And yes, Charlize Theron’s many coats worn in the movie deserve accolades on their own. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

42. Hearts Beat Loud (dir. Brett Haley, 2018)

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So many coming of age stories about black girls, and about lesbians, so especially about black lesbians, are rooted in trauma. What left me positively enamored about Hearts Beat Loud is that it’s bursting with love, support, and joy. Queer actress Kiersey Clemons lights up the screen as Sam, who’s tackling her last summer before leaving for college and her first real girlfriend, Rose (played by yet another queer actress, Sasha Lane). Their love isn’t marked by parents kicking anyone out of the house, or painful coming out stories. They’re just two weird teenagers who love indie rock music and each other. It’s refreshing, and sweet, and in my mind — a perfect love story, wrapped inside an otherwise imperfect indie film. – Carmen Phillips

41. Summertime (dir. Catherine Corsini, 2015)

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The first time I saw this movie I thought I’d seen a masterpiece. And then I was like wait a minute calm down you’re just horny. Izïa Higelin is one of the hottest people to ever people and watching her fall under the spell of Cécile de France’s confident teacher/activist obviously made me feel things. But maybe that’s enough to qualify it as a great movie! Am I parody of myself that I love the movie about French lesbians bonding over feminism? Yes. But it’s not like the movie isn’t also good in addition to being the best thing ever. It’s gorgeously made and well-acted and does a wonderful job capturing a moment in time and and and – okay fine just let me be horny. – Drew Gregory

40. Dope (dir. Rick Famuyiwa, 2015)

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Dope is one of my all-time favorite movies, lesbian or otherwise. It’s one of the tightest scripts of the last decade. The teen heist comedy is unexpected and funny and surprisingly thrilling — which is a lot of compliments from me about a movie with a teenage boy as its protagonist! On top of all those delights, there’s  teenage Kiersey Clemons as Diggy, the protagonist’s lesbian best friend. Even at her young age in the film, you can tell she’s already a natural on screen. She steals the camera’s focus without even trying. Also, it’s worth mentioning, the black masc lesbian costume styling in this film? Top notch. – Carmen Phillips

39. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (dir. David Fincher, 2011)

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There have been other female action heroes — from Pam Grier’s Foxy Brown to Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman — but few have captivated audiences quite like Lisbeth Salander. Starting with Stieg Larsson’s opening salvo in the Millenium series to the Swedish film to the 2011 David Fincher adaptation, I’m hard pressed to recall another female action hero that’s generated that much fervor on her own.

Stepping into Lisbeth Salander’s boots is an unenviable task but Rooney Mara rises to meet the challenge. She is astounding as the pierced, bisexual, tattooed hacker recruited by disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) into investigating the Vanger family. Fincher’s decision to structure the film into five acts — rather than the usual three — requires Mara to carry more of the film’s load: balancing being the badass who fuels the movie’s action sequences and enigmatic enough to keep your attention during Dragon Tattoo‘s procedural parts. She earned every bit of that 2012 Oscar nomination. – Natalie

38. Eva + Candela (dir. Ruth Caudeli, 2018)

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There certainly is no shortage of lesbian romances where things don’t work out – internalized homophobia, externalized oppression, sickness, murder, suicide. But bless Ruth Caudeli’s debut feature for showing our heartbreak the way it usually occurs in all its messy emotions. Most queer women don’t break up because of queerness. Most breakup because God fucking damnit sustaining a relationship – years with another person! years! – is very, very difficult. Silvia Varón and Alejandra Lara are incredible as Eva and Candela as we watch them fall in love and out of love and back in love and out of love, trying so hard to make things work, because they love each other. Truly, they do. It’s a relatable and painful movie that celebrates love in all its impossibilities. And it’s a delightful announcement of a new queer filmmaker who has decades of great films ahead of her. – Drew Gregory

37. Bit (dir. Brad Michael Elmore, 2019)

If you’re not a trans lesbian, like I myself am so lucky to be, you may not fully be able to grasp the rarity of this low-key vampire movie. There are only two trans women leads on this list and the other one ends up with a man. While the decade has shown incredible progress for cis lesbians, trans lesbians are still more or less non-existent on our screens. And yet, there is Bit, where Nicole Maines joins a group of lesbian separatist vampires! It’s fun, it’s sexy, and it’s made with a casual touch never weighed down by the uniqueness of its representation. It’s not a perfect movie, but I treasure its existence, and I hope it gets a proper release soon. I’ve never seen my romantic life on a movie screen. Not fully. But there’s a scene in Bit that comes the closest; that doesn’t require me to ignore my transness or my gayness. The only difference between this movie’s meetcute and my own is usually when I kiss someone it doesn’t end with them sinking their teeth into my neck. Usually. – Drew Gregory

36. Hooters! (dir. Anna Margarita Albelo, 2010)

Part behind the scenes featurette, part treatise on the state of lesbian cinema, Anna Margarita Albelo’s making-of documentary about Cheryl Dunye’s The Owls is a remarkable work of art in its own right. With sharp interviews and cinema verité gold, Albelo captures a debate around how we present ourselves as a community. Generational divides abound in discussions of gender, sexuality, and filmmaking. Queer culture shifts so rapidly it’s a treat to have this document of a specific period of time.

After six years way from filmmaking, The Owls was a return for Dunye, an attempt to prove that independent lesbian cinema was still possible in a landscape increasingly focused on respectability. But it’s Albelo’s examination of the moment that proved this to be true. Her signature sense of humor and formal recklessness combined with insight from Dunye, Guinevere Turner, and a very young Rhys Ernst, make for the rare movie about movies that’s really about so much more. – Drew Gregory

35. Lyle (dir. Stewart Thorndike, 2014)

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It’s unnecessary to say that Stewart Thorndike’s fierce horror movie is more than its pitch – what if Rosemary’s Baby was gay? It’s unnecessary, because the film doesn’t settle in that premise and it doesn’t go beyond it. Instead it dives deep into the thematic mess that question raises. I’m still not sure what the film is saying, and I’m not sure it’s really saying anything. It’s just asking questions we don’t ask; expressing feelings often left unexpressed. And as an experience it’s an absolute ride. It’s a truly horrifying movie with a desperate central performance from Gaby Hoffman and an ominous supporting performance from Thorndike’s ex Ingrid Jungermann. Stewart Thorndike discussed wanting to make a trilogy of horror movies and I am very upset that she hasn’t been given the money to do so! Somebody give Stewart Thorndike some money! It’s been five years and I want more work from her! Are you, dear reader, a film financier?? If so, give Stewart Thorndike money right this minute! – Drew Gregory

34. Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same (dir. Madeleine Olnek, 2011)

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This bizarre and hilarious comedy is a tribute to lonely lesbians across the galaxy. Following the pursuits of three aliens sent to Earth to get their hearts broken so they’ll stop feeling so much, Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same is painfully relatable even amidst all its silliness. The movie shows that there’s someone out there for every misfit – you may just have to journey to a new planet to find them. Most of the genre films on this list are not made by queer women, so it’s a delight that Olnek leaned into her budgetary restraints showing all you really need for sci-fi is commitment. And this sure does have commitment! – Drew Gregory

33. In Between (dir. Maysaloun Hamoud, 2016)

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I love this movie with a specific passion even my excitable self rarely feels. There’s just something about its trio of stubborn women – Leila, Salma, and Nour – that feels so familiar to me, facets of my own personality, pieces of others I admire. It’s such a gift to spend time with these people watching them push against their oppression finding love and connection in partners, each other, themselves. The word feminism is thrown around a lot of in film criticism these days, but Hamoud’s film feels feminist in a pure and personal way I rarely see. This is a film about the occupation of Palestine, about patriarchy, about homophobia, and it is a film about surviving. That doesn’t mean simply living through the day – though sometimes that’s certainly all we can manage – but dancing and eating and fucking and loving. Tell the assholes to fuck off and look hot while doing it. Care for each other when it’s all too exhausting. I’m so grateful to Hamoud and the lead actresses – Mouna Hawa, Sana Jammelieh, and Shaden Kanboura – for making such a remarkable film that I’m certain will only grow in esteem in the decades to come. – Drew Gregory

32. Black Swan (dir. Darren Aronofsky, 2010)

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Frenetic yet vulnerable, sexy yet haunting, Black Swan is a nightmarish ballet of mommy issues, power struggles, and polarities. It’s the classical ballet Swan Lake — on poppers. Nina (Natalie Portman) and Lily (Mila Kunis) diverge in their approach to the artform: Nina is too technical and rigid for the likes of choreographer Thomas (Vincent Cassel), while Lily is an unpredictable firecracker. When Thomas intentionally shatters boundaries between the professional and the personal, Nina unravels, unsure of what’s real and what isn’t. Use of the fantastic in the movie is just right — sparse enough to shock but a consistent thread in the movie’s visual storytelling. Some of its more horror-leaning images are the kind that stay with you for years. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

31. Thelma (dir. Joachim Trier, 2017)

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Thelma’s magic lives entirely in its camerawork and editing. Mesmerizing visuals make up for the wobbly plotting and provide a clear throughline. Thelma wraps an X-Men-like narrative in avant-garde horror dressings, and the result is quite lovely. Raised by oppressive, strictly Christian parents, Thelma’s first taste of kindness and acceptance comes from her fellow classmate Anja, whose affection sets off a sexual awakening for Thelma. Her burgeoning supernatural abilities reflect her trauma but also her strength, and there are touches of Carrie throughout the Norwegian-language film. It’s a slow-burn horror about desire and control, and it ends on a very dark, twisty note. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

30. Boy Meets Girl (dir. Eric Schaeffer, 2014)

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People ask me about dating as a trans woman with a grimace on their face. Their tone – or, on occasion, their words – suggest I might always be alone. This is absurd, of course. Trans women have been desired and loved since we’ve existed which is forever. But it’s true that there are minimal examples of this in media. Looking at the landscape of trans representation – especially in 2014 when Boy Meets Girl came out – one might think we can only be sexless or sex objects.

This is all to say – the saccharine romance of Boy Meets Girl is a fucking gift. I love the messy love quadrangle Ricky gets herself into and I love that it all gets wrapped up in a nice bow. I don’t even mind that she ends up with the boy! Well, I don’t mind it much at least. We still get a sex scene – A SEX SCENE – between Ricky and Francesca that’s sweet and silly and really, really hot. But beyond representation, the movie works as well as it does because Michelle Hendley is an incredible actor. She is a full-on movie star in appearance and charm and endless talent. Considering the number of cis queer women filmmakers who have made work this decade, it’s just a bit disappointing that the only trans women leads on this list were brought to us by two cis straight men. Cast a trans woman in your semi-autobiographical cliché lesbian romcom! I promise you a hungry and grateful audience. – Drew Gregory

29. Signature Move (dir. Jennifer Reeder, 2017)

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Zaynab, a 30-something Pakistani Muslim lesbian from Chicago who’s been living with and taking care of her recently widowed mother, finds herself falling quickly and unexpectedly in love with Alma — the Chicana bookshop owner whom she meets one night at a bar. Of course, Zaynab’s mother doesn’t even know she’s gay, and Alma has little interest in dating someone in the closet, so complications arise almost right away. There’s a lot about this movie that sounds predictable when you write it down, but on film it’s captivating. A lot of that has to do with not only the cultural authenticity and attention to detail, but also Zaynab’s personal obsession with Lucha-Style Mexican wrestling. I promise you’ve seen nothing like it. (Oh by the way, it was made by lesbian Pakistani filmmaker Fawzia Mirza, so when I say that authenticity and unexpected voice is at the core of this film, I absolutely really mean it.) – Carmen Phillips

28. Daddy Issues (dir. Amara Cash, 2018)

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There is an unlikely love triangle at the center of Amara Cash’s debut – a young artist, her influencer crush, and the influencer’s drug-addicted sugar daddy. But that’s only the beginning. This is a bonkers movie filled with bright colors, pop montages, and ever-heightening emotion. It also happens to be one of the most adorable movies on this list. That’s right, amidst all the insanity, and all the sex, is the story of a young woman trying to find herself amidst first love. Sweet doesn’t have to mean safe. Sweet doesn’t have to mean respectable. Straight people don’t get to determine how we tell our stories and it’s a pleasure to watch Cash’s declaration of this fact. A first kiss can be magical. But so can a first fingering. – Drew Gregory

27. A Date for Mad Mary (dir. Darren Thornton, 2016)

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If you combined all my adolescent crushes into two people it would be A Date for Mad Mary romantic leads Seána Kerslake and Tara Lee. But that’s not the only reason I love this Irish romantic dramedy. I love this movie for its heart and its humor and its totally fresh take on the in love with your straight best friend trope. Kerslake’s titular character has no idea she’s in love or that she’s even queer. She just thinks she’s frustrated with her soon-to-be-married friend Charlene for being so absent, especially when Mary just spent months in prison. The fact is Mary doesn’t know who she is. She doesn’t know why she’s so angry, why she keeps fucking up and hurting people, and why she can’t find a date to this wedding. It doesn’t all come back to her queerness – but a lot of it does.

Enter videographer/singer Jess. The chemistry is immediate and even if she’s not sure why, Mary just really likes being around her. Unfortunately, Mary keeps going back to Charlene. Mary’s growth throughout the movie is strained and troubled, but Kerslake finds nuance in every moment. Mary becomes an easy character to root for even if you aren’t painfully attracted to her – which, again, to clarify, I am. – Drew Gregory

26. Shakedown (dir. Leilah Weinraub, 2018)

Shakedown is a documentary exploring early-aughts Los Angeles via the lens of the underground black lesbian strip club from which the film gets it name. For a documentary, which is a genre most often associated with dry facts on screen, it’s also deceptively seductive — playing with the same pulls of fantasy that dancers are also selling to their customers. It’s so incredibly sexy and you can’t take your eyes off the line up of both femme and stud performers on stage (or their lives behind the scenes once the music stops playing.) – Carmen Phillips

25. Bessie (dir. Dee Rees, 2015)

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In 2002, Queen Latifah scored her first Oscar nomination for her turn as Matron “Mama” Morton in the film adaption of Chicago. For someone who had, until then, built a career primarily on sitcoms and an eponymous talk show, the Supporting Actress nod highlighted that Latifah was capable of so much more. In the years since few movies have given Latifah the opportunity to earn that critical acclaim but Bessie did. Latifah embodies blues legend, Bessie Smith, in some of the best work of her career…and for it, she earned an Emmy nomination (Best Actress in a TV Movie) and her first Emmy win (Best TV Movie).

Bessie is rare in its depiction of sexuality: showcasing both Bessie Smith’s bisexuality and polyamory and Ma Rainey’s (played by a scene stealing Mo’Nique) unapologetic lesbianism. – Natalie

24. Valencia (dir. various, 2013)

Billed as a “collaboration between a national community of queer filmmakers” this omnibus adaptation of Michelle Tea’s novel is one of the queerest, transest movies you’ll ever see. Produced by Clement Hil Goldberg and including directors such as Cheryl Dunye, Jill Soloway, and Silas Howard, this movie is the cinematic equivalent of a co-op. Every take on Tea’s work is so different, yet the sections complement each other so well. “Michelle” is played by a variety of cis women, a trans woman, a trans man, an animated character, and even Angelina Jolie in Gia but with Tea’s signature glasses superimposed. There’s a reckless freedom – a fluidity to gender and sexuality and art – that makes this a landmark work of queer cinema. — Drew Gregory

23. Disobedience (dir. Sebastián Lelio, 2017)

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A quiet contemplation of faith, desire, and community, Disobedience looks at the disparate ways childhood lovers Esti (Rachel McAdams) and Ronit (Rachel Weisz) contend with the expectations forced on them in their Orthodox Jewish upbringing. Ronit left, and Esti stayed, and when a funeral brings Ronit home, she’s forced to face the ways she hurt those she left behind and grapple with why Esti remains. The reunion of two lovers sparks scintillating chemistry that is full of familiarity and a long history of emotions. Yes, the spitplay is hot, but the specific way it happens indicates that this is far from the first time it has happened, which makes it all the hotter. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

22. Circumstance (dir. Maryam Keshavarz, 2011)

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By the time I watched Nikohl Boosheri’s breakout role, I’d already fallen in love with her twice. First, in Meera Menon’s Farah Goes Bang where she plays a woman trying to lose her virginity on the John Kerry campaign trail, and then on the first season of The Bold Type where she plays the devastating Adena El-Amin who yanks Kat Edison out of the closet. There’s something about the easeful way Boosheri can alternate between seductive seriousness and goofy charm that is frankly cruel when paired with her physical beauty. Woah. Okay. I really must apologize to Maryam Keshavarz for getting too distracted by my horniness to give this legitimately masterful work of cinema its proper praise. But you know what? I don’t think she’d mind. Because one of the reasons Circumstance is so great is that even though it’s telling the harrowing story of homophobic oppression in contemporary Iran it never shies away from being sexy. The contrast Keshavarz is drawing between her characters’ private life and public life – the life they want versus the life they’re forced into – is emphasized by sex. It’s important we feel their intense want for each other, so it’s not merely theoretical when it’s taken away. Boosheri and her co-star Sarah Kazemy are so incredible and so beautiful and so electric together, it’s painful to watch them pulled apart. But more importantly does anyone know if Nikohl Boosheri is queer IRL and interested in dating a trans writer with curly hair and an encyclopedic knowledge of film? Asking for a friend. – Drew Gregory

21. Mosquita y Mari (dir. Aurora Guerrero, 2012)

Mosquita y Mari is such a sweet retelling of kind of the romantic friendships that any nerd who’s ever had intense feelings towards “the bad girl” at school that you couldn’t quite explain, but consumed you nonetheless, will instantly relate to. Two Chicana high schoolers, Mari (Venecia Troncoso) and Yolanda (Fenessa Pineda), form a bond that’s more than friendship, but also stretches beyond the vocabulary they have at the moment for girlfriends or queerness. What makes Mosquita y Mari stand out is not only how authentic it is to Latinx and Chicanx families and coming of age (though that is a big part of it) — but also how the film finds a way to explore a queer teen romance that’s slippery and ambiguous. Not all of us come out clearly or in a “straight” line, Mosquita y Mari captures that experience like few others can.– Carmen Phillips

20. Blockers (dir. Kay Cannon, 2018)

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Blockers is a prime example of a movie harmed by the initial reactions to its promos, which made it seem like a sex-negative comedy about parents attempting to make sure their teen girls never have sex, when in reality, the film is the ideological opposite of that. Yes, these parents are overbearing, but the movie is critical of that, creating complex, convincing arcs for each of the parents as well as the teens. Its coming-out story is cute and grounded, featuring a very sweet father-daughter scene, supportive friends, and nerdy romance. The whole cast is great down to the tertiary characters. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

19. A Simple Favor (dir. Paul Feig, 2018)

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I saw this movie late and was so sure it had been hyped up by my friends to be gayer than it actually was so I was absolutely delighted to learn that it’s actually quite gay and not just in a “Blake Lively in a tux reminded me what being gay is all about” way. It of course was extreme and campy and truly wild but it was kind of the perfect metaphor for that feeling you get when you’re first realizing you’re into girls but can’t tell if you want to be her or date her or both and your brain is in an action movie while your heart is in a romance and you forget which way is up. – Valerie Anne

18. Booksmart (dir. Olivia Wilde, 2019)

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Booksmart is the buddy comedy I never knew I always wanted. Two teenage girls who love each other and are weird and goofy and smart and who aren’t fighting over boys or an mis-overheard sentence or a rumor. It was fun and funny and emotional and gay in that real, awkward, funny way that gayness sometimes is. I don’t remember the last time a movie made me laugh that hard for that long, and it’s always refreshing to watch female friendships that are so obviously and refreshingly written by women. – Valerie Anne

17. Rafiki (dir. Wanuri Kahiu, 2018)

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In her 2017 TED talk, Rafiki‘s future director, Wanuri Kahiu, ushered in a new genre of African filmmaking called “AfroBubbleGum.” She had grown tired of African films that dealt with the war, poverty, devastation and AIDS; instead, she wanted to “curate, commission and create art that celebrates fun, fierce and frivolous Africa.” A year later, her film Rafiki — the incredible adventure of two Kenya girls in love, if you will — became the first Kenyan film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival.

Even as the film grapples with Kenya’s homophobia, both on-screen and off, Rafiki fulfills Kahiu’s promise. AfroBubbleGum seeps out through the film’s use of bold color — watch the progression of pink! — and a vibrant soundtrack. But Rafiki‘s ultimate strength lies in its stars, Samantha Mugatsia and Sheila Munyiva, who are magnetic as Kena and Ziki. – Natalie

16. Suicide Kale (dir. Carly Usdin, 2016)

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A dark comedy filmed in natural light, Suicide Kale is queer in its marrow, centered on two queer couples at different stages in their relationships and made by a team of queer creatives (Brittani Nichols penned the very funny, natural script, and Carly Usdin directs). It takes place over the course of just one home meal, but the suicide note its title references unearths relationship drama, tension, and complicated emotions that give way to a larger story about intimacy and trust. It feels special from start to finish. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

15. Princess Cyd (dir. Stephen Cone, 2017)

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The first time I watched Princess Cyd I watched it again a few hours later. My girlfriend at the time got home from work and I was bursting with a certain chaotic enthusiasm anyone who knows me knows too well. I insisted it would just be easier to show her than try and articulate why I’d fallen so deeply and completely in love with this movie. So we watched it! And she understood! How could she not? Because Princess Cyd is so, so good.

The mostly non-existent plot is Cyd decides to spend a summer with her novelist aunt Miranda. As she explores her casually pansexual desires – most significantly with hottie barista Katie – she also reflects on the memory of her mother and learns to respect Miranda’s less sexual approach to life. The experience of watching the movie is like being invited to one of Miranda’s living room readings. The experience of watching the movie is like being a part of one of Cyd’s trysts. The experience of watching the movie is like remembering the best summer of your life that you didn’t even realize was the best summer of your life until years later you think back on a small moment that shouldn’t mean much and realize it means everything. Every time I open Netflix I hover the cursor over Princess Cyd tempted to sink back into its world. After texting one friend about this movie for the millionth time she said: “I feel like instead of an eternal flame at your grave should just be a speaker of your voice wailing PRINCESS CYD IS SO GOOOOOD on repeat. Forever.” Add it to my will. – Drew Gregory

14. The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos, 2018)

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After I saw The Favourite for the first time, I spent the next 24 hours asking myself what in the world I’d watched. I don’t just mean director Yorgos Lanthimos’ surreality and fishbowl lenses that have been discussed at length by straight critics everywhere for the last two years. I mean also, “Did I just witness both Rachel Wesiz and Emma Stone fingerbang the Queen of England?” (Yes, and not even, in my opinion, in their best ever gay roles.) The other thing that really sets this period piece apart is how damn messy all three of its leads are. Lady Churchhill, Abigail, and The Queen herself. But even their nastiest actions are clearly motivated by a desperation to survive in a world that would otherwise strip them of all agency and leave them powerless and penniless. Lanthimos resists the seemingly collective urge of all male writers and directors to justify any of of his female characters’ worst behavior, or to punish them for it. No one even gets assaulted. He showcases the full humanity of three entire queer women who fuck and fuck over each other, and aren’t sorry about it. It seems so simple, yet remains revolutionary. – Heather Hogan

13. Mommy is Coming (dir. Cheryl Dunye, 2012)

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Dubbed the most heterophobic movie of all time by, well, me — Cheryl Dunye’s most recent feature film is a farcical odyssey through contemporary Berlin. With an irreverent sense of humor and committed sense of place, Dunye’s film (co-written with Sarah Schulman) is a sexy and silly good time. It’s a celebration of queer sex in all its forms and a thrilling reminder of Dunye’s importance to queer cinema and cinema in general. It begins with a condom covered gun, ends with some accidental incest, and stops at a sex club along the way. Mommy is Coming is a declaration that queer cinema doesn’t have to assimilate. There’s still a need for work that’s bold and reckless and made just for us. – Drew Gregory

12. The Daughters of Fire (dir. Albertina Carri, 2018)

This exploration of the possibilities of pornography answers its own question. Can porn be truly feminist and truly queer? Yes, of course, and this movie is proof. Mostly plotless, this road movie through Argentina follows a lesbian couple as they add more and more queers to their traveling gang of lovers and friends. The cinematography is gorgeous. The narration is poetic. The sex is real and kinky and inclusive. It can be watched in a theatre as a work of art and it can be watched at home to get you off. It’s a treat to live in its utopic vision of queer community and pure desire. – Drew Gregory

11. Second Star on the Right (dir. Ruth Caudeli, 2019)

If Ruth Caudeli’s debut Eva + Candela (#38!) showed the promise of a great new filmmaker, her second film – a mere one year later – has the confidence of an artist fully formed. This story of an immature bisexual surrounded by rapidly maturing straight friends is bursting with formal experimentation. There is so much queer creativity in every frame illuminating Emilia’s inner life and various struggles. The black and white cinematography is subtly crafted and the moments of color are magnetic. Silvia Varón – Caudeli’s muse and, based on Instagram, IRL girlfriend – is so fucking good as Emilia. She’s hilarious and painful and always manages to keep us on her side. This is a messy movie in character and plot and style, but I say that as a compliment. Caudeli commits to the mess of her heroine and respects the messes we all sometimes make of our silly queer lives. – Drew Gregory

10. The Miseducation of Cameron Post (dir. Desiree Akhavan, 2018)

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Instead of simply filming Emily M. Danforth’s sprawling novel, Desiree Akhavan created a true adaptation – focusing on the second half, changing the ending, still capturing its essence. Like its source material, Akahavan’s film uses the story of a teen girl’s time at conversion therapy as a larger exploration of the way queer people are brainwashed to doubt our feelings. The headstrong Cameron – an incredibly dykey and just plain incredible performance from Chloë Grace Moretz – is a perfect protagonist as we watch her slowly start to lose a grasp on her reality. Aided by Ashley Connor’s cinematography and Julian Wass’ score, Akhavan’s film is a truly cinematic experience, never afraid to let a moment or an image sit. The sex scenes are long and specific, reminding an audience just how different it is to watch a queer woman coming-of-age movie made by an actual queer woman.

Also the movie is really funny! Is it a serious drama about queer self-hatred? Yes. Does it still have Akhavan’s biting sense of humor? Also, yes. It’s not maudlin. It shows how queer people, even in our lowest moments, find community and joy, make jokes about our oppressors, and keep on going to live another day. – Drew Gregory

9. Good Manners (dir. Juliana Rojas, Marco Dutra, 2017)

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Horror-camp and relationship drama collide in this Brazilian movie that takes its sweet, sweet time building its world and mythology. But that character development and languidity is a welcome change of pace and stakes for what is ultimately a monster movie. Good Manners suffuses that genre with feelings as well as commentary on class, motherhood, and queerness. Isabél Zuaa’s quiet but memorable performance as Clara, a nanny for a rich and famous pregnant woman who she starts a relationship with, is the movie’s backbone, but Good Manners also manages to tackle a lot at once, including a coming-of-age story for its young boy Joel. It’s more complex than the average monster movie, but it also hits all the right notes of the genre with gore and frights. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

8. Certain Women (dir. Kelly Reichardt, 2016)

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Based on three short stories by Maile Meloy, my favorite of Kelly Reichardt’s many quiet American masterpieces is a tribute to stubborn women. The sections starring Michelle Williams and Laura Dern are heartbreaking and beautiful, but it’s the third section starring Kristen Stewart and newcomer Lily Gladstone that makes me want to scream or crawl within myself and implode. Gladstone plays Jamie, a ranch hand who stumbles upon the law class being taught by Stewart’s Beth. Despite having no interest in law, Jamie keeps returning to this twice a week class to spend time with Beth. It’s less a romance and more a crush. It’s a less a crush and more a window into possibility. Jamie is living an isolated life where she’s surrounded by more animals than people. And the people she does interact with are certainly not queer – and certainly not Kristen Stewart. Of the three women in this movie Jamie is the least outwardly confident. In fact, she’s rather timid. But there’s something about Beth that drives her out of herself and pushes her to take risks and it’s thrilling to witness. This is a melancholy film, but it’s also a celebration of our tiny triumphs, our attempts at something more. – Drew Gregory

7. Dirty Computer (dir. Janelle Monáe and others, 2018)

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Janelle Monáe has always integrated science-fiction into the stories she tells in her music — dating back to the release of Metropolis: The Chase Suite, released in 2007 — but with the release of Dirty Computer, she took things to a whole new level. With her “emotion picture,” Monáe created a visual compliment to her GRAMMY nominated album, that was a part Westworld, part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, part The Handmaid’s Tale and part THX 1138.

But the veneer between science fiction and reality has never felt thinner. In the world Jane 57821 roams and the one where Janelle Monáe lives as a queer black woman, there is a concerted efforts to erase the things that make us “dirty.” Dirty Computer is a call to resist the cleanse and to fight to be “free-ass motherfuckers.” – Natalie

6. Carol (dir. Todd Haynes, 2015)

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We’ve written more about Carol than any movie ever, and I’d venture to say that the internet at large has written more about Carol than any other lesbian movie ever — yet, somehow, I still cannot believe it exists. You can (and plenty of people do) disagree with me, of course, but I think it’s perfect. I think it’s a perfect film. Here’s a thing a lot of people don’t know: There’s a scene in the script in act one where Therese gives Richard a handjob. Director Todd Haynes did film it, but decided to cut it in editing — because he didn’t want the pleasure of a man to be the center of any experience Therese or Carol have in the movie. And that’s the real delight of the entire thing for me. Yes, it’s a brilliantly filmed and acted story about embracing who you are and the danger and ecstasy of giving into queer desire, but it’s also a story that relentlessly, mercilessly shoves men out of the frame. It invites the audience not to ignore them, but to laugh at them. At the end of the day, that’s why Carol didn’t win any Oscars. “Do you miss Richard?” Carol asks. Therese almost giggles. “…no. I haven’t thought about him all day.” – Heather Hogan

5. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (dir. Angela Robinson, 2017)

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This movie is one of the most stunning movies I’ve ever seen. It’s a celebration of women and breaking the mold and daring to love. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming and a true celebration of the love between three people in a casual and understanding way. I had heard that Professor Marston was in a polyamorous relationship with the women who inspired the comic but I’ll be honest, I thought the movie would maybe hint at it or mention it in passing; instead, it was the entire heart of the movie. It was dramatic and artistic and smart and also I learned things about science AND about Wonder Woman which really is my nerdy dream come true. I cannot recommend this unexpectedly unabashedly queer movie enough. – Valerie Anne

4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma, 2019)

Before I came out, my lesbian viewing was restricted to films I could reasonably watch under the guise of cinephilia. It’s how you end up a scholar of queer film history before ever seeing an episode of The L Word. When Céline Sciamma’s debut film Water Lilies was released I wasn’t sure which category it fell into. The trailer was so completely gay – teenage girls kissing in between synchronized swim routines – but it was beautifully shot and in French so I convinced myself I could watch it. I was enthralled by its cinema. I was enthralled by its queerness.

Ten years later – my obsession growing with her next two films Tomboy and Girlhood – Sciamma created a film that once again stunned me as both a work of cinema and a work of queerness. There is no filmmaker around today with a greater grasp of cinematography than Céline Sciamma. While less flashy than some of the other greats, Sciamma always knows exactly where her camera should land – how the images can best bring out the truth of her characters. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is about the creation of lesbian art and it is itself a remarkable work of lesbian art. There can be no arguments made against its cinematic importance and I hope some closeted cinephile in some far off suburb will lose her fucking mind watching Noémie Merlant spit water into Adèle Haenel’s mouth. – Drew Gregory

3. Appropriate Behavior (dir. Desiree Akhavan, 2014)

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Desiree Akhavan wrote, directed, and stars in this edgy hipster comedy, playing her own version of the Brutally Honest Misanthropic Anti-Pixie Daydream Girl. She vacillates from hyperbolic-but-relatable despair to Ilana Wexler-esque repellant charm. It’s quirky, funny, and delightfully indie, chock-full of the inside queer jokes she’d later employ so well in The Bisexual. Since the release of this film, Akhavan has emerged as one of the most compelling and original voices of her generation, committed to authentic, unsparing portraits of queer millennial life. – Riese Bernard

2. The Handmaiden (dir. Park Chan-wook, 2016)

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Park Chan-wook’s erotic psychological-thriller-meets-heist-movie based on the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters is a feat in measured but stylish storytelling. It’s violent and sexual, but those aspects of its narrative speak to larger themes and the immersive visual landscape of the tale so that there isn’t a moment of the movie that feels gratuitous. It shocks without that being all it’s trying to do. Because ultimately, these are very real characters ensconced in a very real love story. Revenge and romance are driving forces for the movie’s action, and several scenes teeter on the edge of desire and danger. – Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

1. Pariah (dir. Dee Rees, 2011)

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Back in 2018, still basking in the glow of Moonlight‘s upset of La La Land for the Best Picture Oscar, famed lesbian author Jacqueline Woodson asked Lena Waithe if she thought we’d ever have a “lesbian Moonlight.” Waithe quickly points out that we’ve already had one: Dee Rees’ stunning coming-of-age and coming out drama, Pariah. But like its central character, Alike, Pariah found itself adrift in a world not yet ready for its honesty.

Adepero Oduye astounds as Alike, the 17-year-old who navigates her identity along a Brooklyn bus route: literally shifting from the conservative, feminine girl her mother loves to the masculine-of-center woman who loves other women, as she makes her way across town. Pariah is, at times, painful to watch — in the way that things that feel too true usually are — but optimism persists throughout. – Natalie

10 Horror Movies and What Type of Crush to Watch Them With

When I was in 8th grade I organized a horror movie night the week before Halloween. Well — actually a horror movie day. Well, actually a horror miniseries day. I had a fantasy of my crush curled up next to me under a blanket, all the lights off, using each jump scare as an excuse to get closer to me.

But my crush was too scared to watch a horror movie at night. And the new girl in our friend group wasn’t allowed to watch R-rated movies. I think that’s why we chose the Stephen King-approved TV adaptation of The Shining despite its 4.5 hour runtime.

Only three people showed up: my crush, the new girl, and a guy friend of ours. By hour two, my crush and the guy had lost interest. They were sitting on the other side of the room giggling to each other. It was daytime, I was watching a TV show, all the lights were on, and my crush was talking to a boy. Goodbye fantasy.

But then: a jump scare! The new girl dramatically moved herself towards me with a scream. I was very aware that our legs were now touching. My crush and the guy left the room, their boredom a cover for fear. The new girl and I watched the second half of the series alone, laughing and screaming, her hand gripping my leg whenever she was scared.

And that’s how I got a new crush for the rest of 8th grade.

This story is proof it doesn’t really matter what you watch as long as it has a few good scares. But why not bond with your crush over some very pointed queer horror? Here’s a list of ten films to watch this Halloween based specifically on what type of crush is currently haunting you.

We’ve also introduced a scale of 1 to 4 Mrs. Danvers to denote the levels of scares. Just because you can’t handle intensity or gore doesn’t mean you should be left out!

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Raw (dir. Julia Ducournau) – Gay Male Bestie

While Raw may not be explicitly queer, there will always be something that feels queer about a girl becoming totally consumed with her burgeoning sexuality. Also not explicitly queer? Baby dykes still in the closet. And if I’ve learned anything from my cis friends A LOT of you dated gay boys before coming out. It makes sense. There’s something safe about experimenting with a boy who’s only mildly interested in you sexually. Maybe that’s why the newly cannibalistic Justine is drawn to her friend Adrien in this gory and beautiful masterpiece. Poor guy.

This movie is perfect if you’re a baby dyke still trying things out with your gay male best friend. Or if you’re a bi girl getting creative with the whole in love with an unattainable friend trope.

3 Mrs. Danvers

Lyle (dir. Stewart Thorndike) – Married Friend

This frightening little gem asks the question: What would Rosemary’s Baby be like if the untrustworthy partner was a butch woman instead of a man? It’s a fascinating experiment with a ferocious performance from Gaby Hoffmann. And it really does make you question how well you know your partner no matter their gender. So if you happen to be crushing on a married friend and are desperate for them to doubt their beloved, this might just do the trick.

Look, am I actually suggesting you try and break up your friend’s marriage? No, I suppose not. But am I suggesting you watch Lyle? Yes absolutely.

3 Mrs. Danvers

The Perfection (dir. Richard Shepard) – Celebrity Crush

This recent Netflix horror movie would be offensive for a multitude of reasons if it wasn’t so incoherent. Instead it’s just an absolutely wild, incredibly shallow thrill ride with a queer woman romance(??) at its center. Who among us hasn’t had a crush on someone we looked up to, someone our teachers praised or someone we watched thrive in our chosen field. And who among us hasn’t had sex with that person only for them to convince us to chop off our arm?

What I’m saying is if you’ve managed to have a movie night with your idol, your accomplished cello-playing, whatever happened to that person idol, why not continue to push the boundaries of belief with this bonkers, and probably bad, definitely fun, absolutely disgusting movie.

4 Mrs. Danvers

Slumber Party Massacre (dir. Amy Holden Jones) – School Crush

Depending on where you go to school it can be a pretty heteronormative space, especially high school. But is there anything gayer than heteronormative spaces? Hear me out. Hot teachers, post phys-ed showers, weekend slumber parties?? Gay, gayer, gayest. And even gayer than your average heteronormative high school or your average heteronormative slasher flick is a horror movie written by Rita Mae Brown. That’s right! The author of Rubyfruit Jungle wrote the screenplay to a film called Slumber Party Massacre. And it’s amazing.

So invite your school crush over for a slumber party of your own. Just maybe skip the pizza delivery.

2 Mrs. Danvers

Jennifer’s Body (dir. Karyn Kusama) – Frenemy

We’ve all had that one friend. The one who we’re not sure if we love or hate. The one who always sort of seems on the verge of kissing you or killing you. Oh we haven’t all had a friend like that? You’re worried about me? Well, some of you know what I’m talking about. Whether or not she turned out to be actually evil or just high school evil.

And if that’s what you’re dealing with right now, why not set the mood with this Megan Fox-starring feminist classic? Maybe your frenemy isn’t so bad after all. Maybe she’s just the snowflake queen and you’re lime-green jello.

2 Mrs. Danvers

Kitchen Sink (dir. Alison Maclean) – Public Transit Crush

Crushes are sometimes just about the fantasy. You don’t even have to know a person’s name or have any intention of talking to them. They can just be a way to pass the time on a boring commute. Why not pick some cute stranger to steal an occasional glance at while you mentally plan your lives together? And while you’re doing that, queue up Alison Maclean’s masterful short film Kitchen Sink on your phone. Your public transit crush doesn’t need to know you’re thinking about them and they don’t need to know that technically you’re watching a horror movie with them.

If we learn anything from this heterosexual horrorshow it’s that sometimes it’s best to leave things alone. Don’t pull at the thread of your fantasy. Let the cutie go to work and leave your garbage disposal of feelings unexplored. Especially if they’re wearing headphones.

3 Mrs. Danvers

Mulholland Drive (dir. David Lynch) – Your Ex

I’m not here to judge. We’ve all had crushes on exes. We’ve all had that misguided desire to give things another shot. And if that’s where you’re at then that’s where you’re at. It’s worked like once, maybe it’ll work for you too. Maybe the secret is forgetting the past, throwing in a little amnesia, and reinventing your entire identities. You used to be Diane dating Camilla. But maybe now you’re Betty dating Rita. So much can change when you spend a little time apart.

This suggestion must come with a warning. Getting back with your ex may seem like a great idea for the first two hours, but devolve into a Lynchian nightmare in the last thirty minutes. Things are complicated, and, again, I’m not here to judge. Just promise me you won’t hire a hitman, and promise me you won’t look for the man behind Winkie’s.

3 Mrs. Danvers

Vampyros Lesbos (dir. Jésus Franco) – Work Crush

Work crushes are unadvisable, but we all have them. If you spend enough time with a group of people, you’re bound to develop feelings for someone. But falling for your coworker is so 2005. Instead why not fall for your new client? You know the one. The mysterious countess who appears in your dreams calling you to the Kadidados Islands. The woman with the soft face and sharp teeth who needs your help settling Count Dracula’s estate.

This movie is ultimately a warning against following your impulses. But it’s also a softcore sexploitation flick. So whether you’re watching with your coworker or your vampiric new legal client, you can choose which lesson to learn. Do you want to resist your impulses (smart) or do you want to give into your horniness and go skinny-dipping (not smart, but who am I to judge)?

2 Mrs. Danvers

Women Who Kill (dir. Ingrid Jungermann) – New Girlfriend

Happy cuffing season! There’s nothing quite like a new fall romance. Just when you thought your only hope for love was getting back with your ex, a mysterious new cutie appears at the co-op. Exciting, sure, but also a little nerve-wracking? While not totally lacking in thrills or violence, Ingrid Jungermann’s horror comedy reveals the scariest thing of all may just be commitment.

But hey you’re pushing past your issues this time around. You really like this new person and you think they might be worth it. Let this movie be a catalyst for a conversation about trust and vulnerability. Just remember: You’re not in danger, you’re just in love.

1 Mrs. Danvers

High Tension (dir. Alexandre Aja) – Straight Friend

This movie is brutal and deeply disappointing. But so is having a crush on your straight friend. You knew it was a bad idea, but then maybe you get sucked into the thrill of it all. It might almost feel like it’s worth the gore. Or maybe the gore is part of its charm. You’re a baby butch and you’re determined to save your friend from the horror of heterosexuality. If only it didn’t end with such a miserable, nonsensical, and flat-out homophobic twist.

This is all to say you should absolutely NOT watch this movie with a crush. But you also shouldn’t be crushing on straight people, so consider this a perfect fit.

4 Mrs. Danvers

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You can also watch any of these movies with a crush you met at a party, who knows your friends, and who has explicitly expressed interest in you. Feel free to keep the danger on screen and out of your personal life. None of these movies are as scary as poor romantic choices.

5 Girl-on-Girl Vampire Relationships That Do More for Me than Willow and Tara’s

It’s not a hot take or wholly original claim that despite Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s landmark lesbian representation, Willow and Tara should not be the OTP we hang our hats on for #relationshipgoals. As a horror-obsessed budding queer pre-teen, Willow and Tara’s first kiss was life changing. I obviously didn’t have the language for it at the time, but I felt so affirmed and seen for the first time on television. As I’ve gotten older and have consumed more media, my feelings about Willow and Tara have completely shifted. Willow and Tara assist Buffy Summers in her quest to slay vampires using their magical abilities (which makes them closer to witches, not vampires) but WLW vampire films and television shows are extremely prominent, and offer plenty of better representation than these two. What makes a relationship worthwhile will differ from person to person, but the things I’ve learned to value after a lifetime of WLW relationships are better presented in the five couples mentioned below.

Pearl & Leah

Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? (2016)

Never in my life would I consider mentioning a Lifetime movie remake, made by James fuckboy Franco, but here we are. The original Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? was a wildly popular made-for-tv movie in the 90s but followed a very similar premise to the toxic-hetero flick Fear. In the 2016 remake, Franco reimagined the story with lesbian vampires. When Leah meets Pearl in college, she immediately falls in love with her but soon discovers that Pearl is part of a group of women nightwalkers (vampires) who kill shitty men for blood. The Nightwalkers want to forcibly make Leah join their crew without her consent and although Pearl is also a nightwalker, she spends the entire movie protecting Leah from danger and is willing to turn her back on her own nightwalker family for not respecting and accepting Leah’s wishes. Everyone around the two of them conspire to keep them apart, but Leah and Pearl are legitimately good for one another and are fighting to live and love on their own terms.

Susan and Mircalla/Carmilla

The Blood Spattered Bride (1972)

The 70s were littered with lesbian vampire films, but almost all of them focus on a predatory lesbian vampire queen who is turning women into vampires without their consent. While this is somewhat true of Mircalla (later revealed to be the iconic lesbian vampire character Carmilla), the film is less about preying on a victim and more about someone finally coming to terms with who they are and what they actually want. The character of Susan is presented as being stalked and groomed by Mircalla throughout the film, when in reality, Susan is absolutely fascinated and attracted to Mircalla. Mircalla is revealed as having killed her husband after he forced her to do “unspeakable acts,” something the men in the family have brushed under the rug but that greatly bothers Susan. Inevitably, Susan gives in to her desire and has a lesbian affair with Mircalla, becoming a vampire in the process, and releases her repression to take charge for the first time in her life. Unfortunately, things don’t go well for the duo, and it’s a startling metaphor for what happens to women when they rebuff the desires of men in favor of following their own desires.

Miriam Blaylock and Dr. Sarah Roberts

The Hunger (1983)

Ever wonder what a gothic “U-Haul” bisexual relationship would look like in 1983? After being married to John Blaylock (David Bowie) for over three centuries, Miriam (Catherine Deneuve) has her sights set on the sleep specialist, Dr. Sarah (Susan Sarandon) and immediately pounces on her like, the day after her husband dies. The film is iconic for having one of the most legitimately erotic WLW sex scenes in cinematic history, but the reason this film is getting a mention in this list is due to how the relationship comes to an end. Miriam and Sarah are not good for one another, because Miriam is a selfish and self-centered predator. Rather than allowing herself to get swept up in the romance and intrigue, Sarah ends the relationship and ends Miriam’s reign of terror on her own. Queer folx have little representation in the media to begin with, but we have even less examples of queer relationships ending on our own terms because we’ve spent decades trying to push the “together for 50 years and can’t get married?!” narrative to make cis-hets more “comfortable” with us. Sarah and Miriam’s breakup is of nightmare proportions, but it’s really cathartic to witness. Knowing when to walk away is a good way to set up healthy boundaries, and The Hunger is a great example of doing just that.

Fran and Miriam

Vampyres (1974)

Like most films that came out of the exploitation lesbian vampire explosion of the 1970s, the portrayal of the bisexual vampire couple in Vampyres is imperfect from a text standpoint, but extremely powerful from a subtextual perspective. The film suffered from a downright exploitive marketing campaign, heavily focusing on “HOT LESBIAN MOVIE” to draw in audiences, but all of the actions done by Fran and Miriam are an attempt to keep each other alive and safe. They’re both angry, because their sexuality (not their vampirism) is what is treated as monstrous. The two have become vampires because they were killed during their mortal lives…for being together. The duo were punished for an eternity for daring to love one another, and they’ve chosen to spend that time doing whatever it takes to make that eternity more adventurous and fulfilling, and punishing those that look down upon them for how they love. It’s a little aggressive, yeah, but the intention behind these actions are purely based in love and feeling injustice.

Carmilla and Laura

Carmilla (2014-2016)

The extremely popular web series Carmilla (based on the pre-Dracula lesbian vampire novella of the same name) felt like the answer to everyone who complained about the lackluster representation in Buffy the Vampire Slayer held as the golden goose. When Laura falls in love with the vampire Carmilla, the duo navigate a legitimate relationship regardless of their age gap and life experiences. They share awkward flirting, a first kiss, a honeymoon phase, a break-up, and the ultimate reunion, but in a very healthy and realistic manner. This was one of the earliest examples I could identify of a lesbian relationship tackling the idea of “am I in love with you, or the idea of you?” It’s the wholesome lesbian vampire relationship couple that we all deserve.

Honorable Mention

Goody & Stacy,Vamps (2014)

Most people know Amy Heckerling for her groundbreaking work making Clueless, but her vampire best friend flick Vamps has gone unnoticed for far too long. Stacy (Kyrsten Ritter) and Goody (Alicia Silverstone) play two vampire best friends living in a modern world. Goody has been a vampire for much longer than Stacy, and has helped her get through this massive life change in stride. Neither Goody or Stacy openly identify as queer and are shown dating men (with Stacy even becoming pregnant), but the duo ultimately choose each other’s happiness over anyone else’s. While it may not be canonically romantic love, the pure love and sisterhood these two share are worth mentioning.

10 Low-Key Horror Movies to Watch With Your Sensitive Butch Date

After a long summer of underboob puddles and chub rub only soothed by the formation of a sweat river between my thighs, spooky season is finally upon us. This time of year brings us back to what really matters: cool weather that beacons you to cradle a mug of redbush tea by the window with a true-crime podcast playing softly in the background.

For the uninitiated, it is also cuffing season, the perfect time to send that risky text to Erica, your sensitive butch “friend” who you’ve been passively flirting with but not brave enough to kiss since May. Erica’s sizeable forearms are offset by the fact that she blushes and turns away every time you give her a compliment. Plaid and earth tones really bring out the gold in her brown eyes so when she looks at you there’s always the hint of a sparkle. You’re smitten and a little punk when it comes to love. Here is where horror movies come in to do much of the heavy lifting.

Behold, ten horror movies chill enough to have Erica scooting closer to you on the couch and maybe even grabbing your hand for support, but not so disturbing that you both leave for the night restless and perturbed.

Carrie (1976)

Carrie is a great movie to watch alone, with a friend, or with Erica who has arrived with a spiced nut medley she made herself, still warm enough to fog up the Tupperware container. Sissy Spacek stars as a girl many of us identify with: wide-eyed, odd, devastated by the onslaught of a period, and fascinated by the paranormal.

Both of you are sure to comment on Betty Buckley as the hero Miss Collins. Miss Collins is every stereotypical gay gym teacher. With perfectly waved hair (even when delivering verbal smackdowns) and cheekbones sharp enough to cut glass, Miss Collins is a heartthrob that attempts to protect Carrie in every situation. How does Miss Collins handle bullies?

Miss Collins: You too, Chris, and spit out that gum.
Chris: Where will I put it, Miss Collins?
Miss Collins: You can choke on it for all I care just get it out of your mouth.

This exchange is sure to get a chuckle out of Erica, who’s beside you sipping on a seltzer and winding one of her curls around her finger.

The deaths in Carrie aren’t particularly bloody or gory. A film made in the seventies, a lot of the supernatural direction is a little laughable. In the end, Carrie gets to haunt the people that tormented her and isn’t that everyone’s dream?

Nosferatu (1922)

A silent film, Nosferatu is the epitome of chill. Vampire films from this era are great for dates because as students of horror know, vampires are often coded as LGBTQ and emblems of raw sexuality. Coupled with all that neck-nibbling, this film is sure to get a few suggestive eyebrow raises and sideways glances. Count Orlock’s look is iconic for melding creepy with high fashion (a double-breasted, high collar black blazer? We stan!) Furthermore, Thomas Hutter has the perfectly bowed lips of a beautiful woman and watching him kiss his wife is as close as we can come to a gay experience.

Silent films completely rely on the drama of physical acting to create a tense and disturbing mood, so much of the movement in Nosferatu is exaggerated — almost effeminate in some cases, making it a delightful viewing experience.

Not without drama, makers of the film were eventually sued by Bram Stoker’s heirs for basically stealing his entire story. A court ruled that all copies of the film had to be destroyed, but a few prints somehow made it out unscathed. Pepper in this fact while watching and Erica’s eyes will be pulled from the scene where she has been attentively reading each dialogue card as they pop up. You really admire that about her, how she really listens and pays attention to what’s around her.

A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)

Promoted as the “First Iranian Vampire Western,” this film is absolutely stunning and a story of feminism, reaching through loneliness, and women protecting other women. In one of the most poignant scenes, the vampire Girl spots a young boy walking by himself holding a skateboard at night. She approaches and asks

“Are you a good boy?”

The boy, terrified as she flashes her fangs, answers yes. She continues to ask, unconvinced that he is being truthful, and threatens to take his eyes out, warning:

“Till the end of your life, I’ll be watching you.”

The interaction ends with her ordering him to be a good boy, and flying down the streets at night on his skateboard, the street lights forming a halo around her chador as it billows in the breeze.

This moment reads like a woman intervening in the life of a young boy before he grows into one of the men The Girl has to defend herself against in the future. In a world where bad men are ruining the lives of women around her, the attitude of “boys will be boys” will no longer suffice. The Girl also forms a loving and protective bond with a sex worker named Atti in the film.

You and Erica can chew on the feminist subtext at this moment and throughout the film, and maybe get into a debate over the questionable treatment of addicts. Either way, you’ll have a conversation that goes late into the night, and before you know it you’ll both be under your thick-woven blanket, knee to knee and raving over the soundtrack.

The Girl With All The Gifts (2016)

Now we enter the creepy, bloody section of this list. This movie is stunning and stays almost entirely faithful to the book. Sennia Nanua is Melanie, one of the “Hungries” infected by a fungal disease that turns humans into flesh-hungry zombies. Melanie, like many young gays, has a major crush on her English teacher Ms. Justineau. They talk about ancient Greece and Melanie in particular revels in the creative writing activities. Author M.R. Carey and those involved in the making of the film may disagree with me, but Melanie reads as such a baby gay it’s hard to not love and identify with her.

This movie is bloody, there are lots of scenes of people being eaten alive. There are jump scares and real scares and an ending that is equal parts sweet and devastating. There is also Glenn Close as domme-ish scientist with short-cropped hair. It’s a thrilling watch that is beautifully scored for a date night or a night alone.

Last Shift (2014)

This one is tried and true. I watched this movie one night, got my hand held, and got kissed in the morning. It’s rated pretty low by critics and viewers alike, but will do if you have Netflix and want to watch a cop get terrorized. The movie is about a police station that is closing down, and as they do with these things, they’ve sent the one rookie cop to watch over everything. Jess is a legacy cop though, which makes her somehow special, and her father died in the line of duty so she’s got something to prove! The station is haunted by the souls of a Manson-esque cult that committed mass suicide inside holding cells back when Jess’s dad was a cop. They appear doing basic haunting stuff: giggling, slamming doors, relocating objects, and singing childlike melodies as full grown adults.

Cops aside, the sound design on this one is pretty decent if you want to be scared. There’s plenty to jump at, and when Jess turns around and comes face to face with someone that wasn’t there before, you and Erica will undoubtedly jump and reach for each other. You’ll laugh sheepishly and ultimate your hands will rest wherever they lay and you’ll spend the night in each other’s arms.

Daughters of Darkness (1971)

If there’s one thing this movie has got, it’s lewks. Delphine Seyrig plays a Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory who dazzles in a sparkling silver turtleneck, a red gown with a deep v and mock choker, a black high collar fur with a mesh veil to match, and oh those damn finger waves! Her wardrobe is “Officer, my husband? Dead?!” in human form.

The Countess preys on young girls, which is a huge bummer, but not so much that you won’t be completely entranced by her feminine wiles. Without spoiling too much, there is some gay kissing and sometimes watching other people kiss is a catalyst. So make sure you’ve packed your green tea mints from Trader Joe’s and a travel toothbrush you can use on your third bathroom break when things start to heat up.

Us (2018)

Now, if the Erica in your scenario is white, watching “Get Out” may not be the best choice for you. It will undoubtedly spark an awkward conversation about race where she attempts to get you to say she’s “one of the good ones.” If you want to live in a fantasy for a little longer, or if your Erica is a woman of color, Peele’s “Us” is a date friendly choice that will leave everyone happy. Lupita Nyongo stars as the wife you wish you’d had and also your nightmare ex!

Rife with melanin, incredible tension, and the most bop-able spooky remix to a 90’s hip hop classic in existence, “Us” will leave you both discussing theories and picking over minor details like picking cashews out of the pile of lesser nuts. You’ll inevitably get into a discussion about Winston Duke’s flawless complexion while complimenting the softness of each other’s hands (whipped body butter recipe exchange time!)

The Witch (2015)

One thing you and Erica have in common is that you both love a liberated woman, and is there a more liberated woman than a witch? I think not. If for whatever reason you love colonial America and a heavy dose of Puritanism, this movie will suit your needs. It’s got darkness, surprising sensuality, and one of the most quoted lines in a horror movie from the past decade. “The Witch” is grim, gothic, and liberating.

Thelma (2017)

This movie is more of a thriller than a classic horror, but it will certainly get you both talking and your blood rushing. We follow Thelma, a Norwegian student that moves to Oslo for her first year of college. Not long after the move, Thelma begins to suffer from epileptic seizures that seem to coincide with her meeting a fellow student, Anja, who she begins to fall in love with.

The seizures are just the beginning for Thelma; she soon realizes that she has incredible psychokinetic powers. Anything Thelma wants she has the power to manifest, sometimes through violent means. It’s a supernatural thriller that ruminates on the larger questions of a society that stifles and dulls the power of young women and girls. Bonus: no lesbians were harmed in the making of this film.

Both you and Erica will certainly be moved by the film’s message of self-love and triumph in the face of adversity, and will feel inclined to share your traumatic coming out stories with one another. Is the church involved? You bet. Will there be tears? Absolutely.

Good Manners (2018)

When I first heard about “Good Manners” it was described as a “Brazilian lesbian werewolf flick” and I have been obsessed with watching it ever since. Set in Sao Paulo, Clara is a nanny that has just landed a job working for mom-to-be, Anna, who is exceedingly wealthy and gorgeous. Clara is hired to be a nanny but ends up spending more of her time caring for Anna through her mysterious disorder.

Like any classic lesbian movie, “Good Manners” takes a professional relationship with a blatant power imbalance and makes it romantic or sexual. This movie is a slow burn, and maybe all that building sexual tension will allow you and Erica space to make out a little while the story is inching along.

At a breathless two hours and 15 minutes long, it is, in a word: devastating. It really scared me and left me feeling unsettled, especially during the final 45 minutes. It’s the kind of devastation that makes you want someone to hold your face in the palm of their hands, thumbs brushing your cheeks, eventually bringing you into an embrace. Who else to be frightened with but sweet, gentle, capable Erica?

The Eyes of My Mother (2016)

For When Erica Doesn’t Text Back

So it’s come to this: you’ve sent a double text. First, you wanted to come off playful and light, and then you adopted the tone of someone who knows they’ve been stood up. You frantically run through the many scenarios to which Erica could have fallen: car broke down, cell phone died, her grandmother fell, her grandfather fell, she burned the nut medley and was too embarrassed to come by.

Whatever it is, you’ll want a move that is the opposite of “Good Manners”, so devastating that you want to be left alone to do nothing else but try and remember your life before this movie. That movie is “The Eyes of My Mother.”

“The Eyes of My Mother” tells the story of Francisca who was raised on a quaint farm with her family as a girl. After a devastating loss, we watch as Francisca grows up, isolated from everyone but the strange family she has amassed and the company of animals. It’s the kind of movie that grabs all of your attention so you won’t be tempted to look down at your phone every two minutes to check for notifications.

Was that a vibration? Could it be… her?

Can you let it go? Not for another six months at least.

I’ve recommended this movie to so many women I’ve dated and it says enough about me that I understand if I don’t get a text back, and feel grateful if I do. It takes you through twists that seem both wild but altogether reasonable. You’ll be left questioning who the villain is, and knowing it is Erica.

Gal Pals Without Benefits: Why Does Kissing Your Bestie Get You Killed in Horror Movies?

Girls have endured their fair share of unfair suffering over the course of horror history. If they’re not choking on their orgasmic death-gurgles as they lay finally floppy and passive beneath the man that murdered them, they’re cast as bloodthirsty, sexually deviant monsters. Either way, a bloody end is probable. Female indulgence — be it perversely sexual, unlawful, or against society’s norm, is punishable, in the average horror flick — by death. These ancient, misogynistic rules for the Scream Queens of the past should not still be in place for the Final Girls of the future. But there is one activity in the world of gore and splatter that is a failsafe for any female character meeting her gory, shrieking demise:

The Lesbian Experimentation Kiss.

A lesbian kiss is the one route to disaster for any woman, the bolt that slides across the cage in which her hell-bound soul will be imprisoned forever. From the moment she gives in and ducks towards her best friend’s glossed, ruby-red lips, she has lost the game, and will not survive.

Allow me to take you on a journey through the horror film industry’s most lethal lesbian kisses. As I examine each girl’s decision to plant one on the fairer sex, I pose the following, burning question: Why does Kissing her bestie get her killed?

Carmilla, The Hunger, and the Vampire Kiss

The origin of the doomed lesbian kiss dates back to 1872, with the release of the early vampire novella Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. In this tale Carmilla, an alluring temptress, preys on young, impressionable women, draining them slowly of life as the two form an “abnormally close bond.” The tale has been adapted for the screen numerous times, the most famous of which is Roger Vadim’s Blood and Roses. In this film, and in many of the other adaptations, Carmilla’s kiss is the final nail in the coffin for one of the women.

A film that takes its inspiration from Le Fanu’s Carmilla is a classic for any lesbian film connoisseur: The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983). The film earns its stripes for casting a young David Bowie as the ‘kept husband,’ then gives us the iconic seductress that is Catherine Deneuve in the role of Miriam, a wealthy, powerful vampire that lures happily married Sarah (Susan Sarandon) to her death with an irresistible kiss.

The film is a classically fitting tribute to the early Hammer Horror depictions of the lesbian vampire as a ‘rich, decadent woman who seduces the young and powerless.’ [Zimmerman, Daughters of Darkness]. Miriam is the archetypal bloodsucking seductress. She ‘embraces her female victims, using all the power of her seductive wiles to soothe and placate anxieties before striking.’ [Creed, The Monstrous Feminine].

Miriam knows her kiss is the precursor to death. It is her queerness, both sexual and monstrous, that inspires her contempt for the regularity of heteronormative society, which is why she drives herself between Sarah and her husband, and why she is incapable of maintaining a relationship with a man (or a woman), without draining them of their life. As Barbara Creed explains, Miriam ‘seeks revenge on society, particularly the heterosexual nuclear family, because of her lack, her symbolic castration.’ It is for this reason, Creed argues, that her female lovers cannot withstand her jealousy over men and — unfortunately for Sarah — inevitably pay the ultimate price.

The Babysitter and the Truth-or-Dare Kiss

Fast-forwarding to more recent times, we have the Netflix-released, satirical spin on the classic ‘Devil-worshipping cult’ story: The Babysitter (MCD, 2017). In this table-turned take on a formulaic story, the ‘hot girl’ takes control, standing in the role of the villain as opposed to the victim. To quote an iconic part of the film:

Allison: Look at this sh*t. That would go viral so hard. I mean nobody’s done human sacrifice.
Sonya: People have always done human sacrifice.
Allison: Yeah but like, not in America with hot people.

The lesbian kiss, between Bee (Samara Weaving) and Allison (Bella Thorne) is the result of a ‘Truth or Dare’ game, played between a group of rebellious high school kids. Bee gets the dare to ‘kiss everyone in the circle,’ including Allison. She makes a show of the kiss for the benefit of her male onlookers.

The ‘Truth or Dare’ kiss is a common facet of the horror genre, intended to convey a sense of sexual perversity amongst characters that excuses their eventual demise. Lesbianism is still enough of an underrepresented trope in modern cinema that a girl-on-girl kiss, particularly one as overtly sexual as this one, is a taboo. Although in this instance there is clearly no real romantic intent behind this for either one of the kissing girls, they’re putting on a performance for the men around the circle in the hopes of arousing them. As a consequence, the kiss changes our view of them into manipulative, dick teasing, man-haters; through the camera’s male gaze, the spectator is lulled into an unconscious desire to see them perish for their transgression.

Thelma and the Repressed Feelings Kiss

Disrupting the flow of misogynistic, formulaic girl-slashing horror, comes the critics’ darling Thelma (Joachim Trier, 2017). Thelma is brought up in a religious household in the bleak countryside of Norway, where she slowly builds up a well of suppressed emotion in a Carrie-like fashion. At university, she is freed of the chains of this upbringing, and these emotions (along with her buried lesbianism) surge out in uncontrollable acts of psychokinesis.

The catalyst for Thelma’s progressively more destructive powers to emerge is unsuspecting Anja, a classmate whose ease and openness about her own sexuality is a source of maddening frustration for Thelma, who falls for her when an agonising build up of pining leads to a passionate kiss.

Anja’s sudden obliteration from the world is the result of Thelma’s ‘Repressed Feelings Kiss;’ again, this is a common trope in horror, symbolic of a character’s inability to contain her multitude of conflicting and powerful emotions. The kiss represents both Thelma’s final indulgence of her sexuality, and also the climaxing instant wherein she can no longer suppress her powers.

It is therefore possible to draw comparisons from Thelma to the stereotypical witch, often represented in horror films as a young woman on the verge of a sexual awakening, as in Carrie (De Palma, 1976), or Black Sunday (Bava, 1960).

‘Historically and mythogically, the witch has inspired both awe and dread. In ancient societies all magical powers, whether used for good or evil purposes, inspired the deepest dread amongst the members of the community.’ [Creed].

Like these iconic witches predating her, Thelma’s psychokinetic powers are unwillingly triggered by the unearthing of, and subsequent attempts to re-bury, her sexual desire. It’s not malicious intent that seals poor Anja’s fate, but Thelma’s oppressive backstory, turning her into a bubbling volcano, poised to erupt at the first press of a woman’s lips. The accidental nature of this particular kiss of death is perhaps why, unlike the other examples, Trier allows viewers to draw a conclusion of ambiguity in relation to Anja’s ultimate fate.

Jennifer’s Body and the Succubus Kiss

Together, the badass film director Karyn Kusama and equally badass writer Diablo Cody worked to manifest a scene that is now arguably known as the most famous lesbian-horror-make-out-session in history.

The plot of Jennifer’s Body (Karyn Kusama, 2009) has elements of The Babysitter, with its devil-worshipping, cult-sacrifice centre (this time orchestrated by crazed indie band frontman Nikolai, played by Adam Brody) — except there’s a literal supernatural element, as poor Jennifer (Megan Fox), the sacrificed non-virgin, turns into a boy-eating demon.

The nature of Jennifer’s monstrosity holds similarities to the legend of the ‘vagina dentata’ — man’s fear of a vagina with teeth, a myth that dates back centuries. Whilst Jennifer’s vagina is not (as far as we know) lined with sharp teeth, her mouth does split open unnaturally wide to reveal rows of vicious fangs to consume the men she preys on. Replacing Jennifer’s ordinary mouth — once used for such innocent activities as eating regular human food and kissing — this new demonic mouth is more like a secondary vagina — a vagina dentata — through which the male flesh enters, and is promptly devoured.

‘The vagina dentata also points to the duplicitous nature of woman, who promises paradise in order to ensnare her victims.’ [Creed].

It’s for this reason that the kiss Needy and Jennifer share is the signifier of Jennifer’s downfall. Her mouth is no longer the body part of a teenage girl; it is only coincidence that the snarky, mean-girl comments falling from her bloodied lips were just as cruel before her demonic possession as after. When Jennifer, perhaps in a final attempt to reclaim what she once was (a sexual being, Needy’s best friend) kisses Needy and is then rejected, the demon in her reacts, recoils, and takes her over completely. Whether the kiss was a product of Jennifer’s need to control her less attractive friend, or a culmination of some secret Sapphic desire, we will never fully know, as the real Jennifer Check, following this scene, never truly emerges.

Lesbian Vampire Killers and the Indulgent Kiss

Whilst this isn’t a serious contender for the proposed theory, it is worth mentioning this British parody-horror, because creator Paul Claydon evidently picked up on the inherent homoeroticism of classic Hammer horror cinema, and created a (moderately offensive) homage. As you can no doubt tell from the title, the lesbians of this cheesy slapstick are not long for this world after indulging in one another. Jimmy (Matthew Horne) and Fletch (James Corden) are the two buffoons drafted by the cliché, God-fearing vicar of a small town to rid the Parish of the evil lesbian bloodsuckers.

Again, the parallels drawn between lesbian and vampire are startling; as Creed explains, ‘the visual association between biting and bloodied lips, sexual intercourse, and death provides a central motif of the vampire film.’  It is no wonder, therefore, that the female vampire, being inherently sexual because of her monstrosity, leans towards the fairer sex. Due to the connotations lesbianism has amongst the general public (hypersexual, indulgent, performed for male pleasure) the vampire woman’s Sapphic inclinations are an outpouring of her queerness: her monstrosity. She is doomed simply because of her lesbianism, as were the dozens of lesbian vampire characters she parodies in past horror classics.

Bury Your Gays

The Fatal Lesbian Kiss is evidently a problem to this day, and its existence is a disturbing reminder of the perpetuation of the ‘bury your gays’ trope, as described by Haley Hunan: ‘Works using the trope will feature a same-gender couple and with one of the lovers dying and the other realizing they were never actually gay, often running into the arms of a heterosexual partner.’  Representation of LGBTQ+ sexualities is becoming more of a norm in current media, however the existence of the Fatal Lesbian Kiss is a sign that despite demand for the queer community to be shown on screen, the way it’s done still allows for a homophobic reading. For the future horror filmmakers out there, let this be an eye-opener, and let it be you that paves the way in the genre of rampaging male aggression and women-torture porn for non-discriminatory, positive representations of lesbian or bi-curious characters.

23 Lesbian and Bisexual Romantic Drama Films, Ranked

Welcome to the Autostraddle Team Movie Watch, in which our entire TV Team (we don’t have a Film Team, so we’re multi-tasking here) weighs in on a thematic set of lesbian/bisexual films! Because you know what, sometimes everybody except Riese thinks Battle of the Sexes is an incredible film and y’all need to know that we are not a monolith. Except… when we are. This week’s edition: Romantic Dramas! FYI: This isn’t a comprehensive list of all lesbian / bisexual romantic dramas or a list of the best ones, it’s just a SAMPLING of the genre. Also the average is of all the team members who ranked the movie, so if it doesn’t add up it’s ’cause somebody gave a ranking but didn’t write a blurb.

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23. Below Her Mouth (2016) (1.5)

Erin’s Autostraddle Review (2016): “And this movie seems to wish upon the world a new generation of Shanes. But I’m urging you to let her rest. She’s been gone for nearly eight years.”

Riese: “It’s true that hot lesbian characters had hot lesbian sex in this film and that Erika Linder is beautiful, but the rest of it was almost unendurable — cardboard characters, tired “plot,” recycled romance, egregious acoustic guitar playing, insufferable protagonist — should’ve been illegal.” (1)

Heather: “This movie has been made a hundred times and so has this TV show and nearly all of those versions were better.” (1)

Valerie: “I cannot possibly recommend this movie…it’s not even the best soft-core lesbian porn I’ve ever seen. I guess it was kind of hot sometimes? That’s the best I can do.” (2)

Drew: “Porn is a thing. Don’t watch this on Netflix because you’re horny. Open a new tab, go to a porn site. I promise the writing and acting will be better.” (2)

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22. Room in Rome (2010) (2)

Riese’s Autostraddle Review (2010): “I’d recommend smoking a TON of something before flipping on this masterpiece.” (Riese)

Drew: “Honestly I watched this very high and I don’t remember much about it. But I do remember being very bored which is not a good sign when you’re high and watching a movie about two women having sex… in a room… in Rome.” (2)

Heather: “You’ve gotta work really hard to make this much lesbian sex boring.” (2)

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21. Go Fish (1992) (4.3)

Erin’s Autostraddle Review (2017): “It is with a heavy heart that I say that this might be the worst movie I’ve ever seen.”

Drew: “There’s something about the early 90s unremarkable-ness of this movie that really works for me. All the low-budget pals hanging around doing nothing movies that took Sundance by storm feel a bit underwhelming now. But this one is gay! And Guinevere Turner is such a cutie in her backwards baseball cap. And it’s fun to just watch a bunch of lesbians hang out and talk about stuff. Certainly groundbreaking for its time, but I think there are also pleasures to find as a modern viewer if you get on its wavelength. ” (7)

Riese: “Groundbreaking and so important for its time, but unfortunately for all the talent involved in making it happen — doesn’t really hold up. Guinevere Turner looks really cute in her baseball cap.” (3)

Heather: “Unlike Desert Hearts, this one, sadly, doesn’t stand the test of time.” (3)

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20. Better Than Chocolate (1999) (4.8)

Erin’s Autostraddle Review (2016): “I feel damaged, like this movie has taken a part of my soul. And not only does this movie refuse to apologize for it, I think it’s going to use my soul’s energy in order to make it even more ridiculous for the next person who watches it.”

Drew: “This isn’t a good movie, but it is a bad movie in a very fun way. It also gets points for including a trans woman in its lesbian ensemble. Is she played by a cis man? Of course. But he honestly does a better job than any of the men who won Oscars for doing the same thing.” (6)

Heather: “It’s so dated now, but at the time — when you could only get Netflix on DVDs mailed to your house — it made a lot of cracks in a lot of closet doors. ” (5)

Riese: “This is a bad movie but it also portrayed a genuine lesbian social circle rather than an isolated romantic storyline, and one that included a trans woman at that.” (5)

Natalie: “Christina Cox deserved so much better than this movie.” (3)

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19. Blue is the Warmest Color (2013, France) (4.6)

Kate’s Autostraddle Review (2013): “At a bloated 2 hours and 53 minutes, one wonders if there were any limitations placed on Kechiche’s vision, and if the film might have improved had someone taken him aside at some point and given him a lesson in the more harmful ways that one can portray a queer person.”

Natalie: “Knowing what the lead actresses went through, it’s hard for me to imagine watching this movie today…but even before I learned all that, I thought the back half of the movie was AWFUL.” (2)

Heather: “I wasn’t super sold on this when it first hit theaters in the U.S. — despite Adèle Exarchopoulos’s revelatory performance — and as the actresses have opened up about how they felt exploited by the director on-set, it’s become unwatchable.” (2)

Kayla: “The emotions in this movie are visceral and compelling, and the sex scenes are appalling.” (5)

Riese: “My theory about this film is that people who’ve been in love with the same ex for 3-5 years post-breakup related to it so strongly they didn’t notice it was too long and that there was too much chewing. But I didn’t hate it.” (6)

Drew: “The way this film was created, especially its sex scenes, is absolutely unacceptable. I also think it’s telling that a lesbian movie with such a male gaze broke into mainstream film circles in a way queer women films by queer women rarely do. But I can’t help myself! It has so many feelings and I love a movie with feelings! I haven’t watched this movie in years, but I loved it at a formative time in my life and I can’t seem to let it go…” (8)

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18. Loving Annabelle (2006) (5.8)

Sarah’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “Loving Annabelle is not the greatest movie ever, but it’s refreshingly realistic.”

Riese: “I realize objectively that this is bad, but I wanna hold space for how much I loved this teacher/student romance when I first saw it in my early twenties. (6)

Heather: “A forbidden student-teacher romance that seemed so sexy to me as a closeted 25-year-old and seems so icky to me now as a non-closeted 40-year-old.” (6)

Natalie: “The only lesbian movie I’ve ever watched and wished for an unhappy ending. That said, if you’re going to watch a movie with a teacher/student romance, watch this, not Bloomington. Do not watch Bloomington.)” (6)

Drew: “This remake of Mädchen in Uniform, the 1931 German classic, is totally devoid of that film’s complexity and artistry. But this one is still fun enough. It’s very short and that’s something.” (5)

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17. The Duke Of Burgundy (2015) (6)

Fikri’s Autostraddle Review (2015): “…the film captures sex, love, lust and affection all at the same time and really well, which is really impressive”

Drew: “I guess it’s sort of interesting, but this one feels very male gaze-y and its pleasures are not nearly enough to make up for that.” (6)

Riese: “Starts out intriguingly unlike any lesbian film I’ve ever seen, and then just gets progressively weirder until it can barely hold itself up. Still, points for being bold, I guess?” (7)

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16. High Art (1998) (6.2)

Eli’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “The first time I saw High Art, my psuedoladyfriend made fun of me for crying, and when I said it was “sad & beautiful” she said it was just “tragic.” Whatever.”

Drew: “It feels like this movie snorted a line of heroin with its characters. It’s slow and deliberate with an ever-impending sense of danger. Ally Sheedy is as unsettling as she is irresistible.” (8)

Riese: “I guess I’m a sucker for a tortured artist going nowhere fast and taking a straight girl along with her.” (7)

Heather: “It was required viewing for lesbians of a certain age, and it still holds some charm.” (6)

Natalie: “I did not like this movie. Like, not at all. I wrote a note to a friend after seeing it that said, “okay, this movie sucks. I forced myself to watch the rest and have regretted it ever since.” (2)

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15. The Incredibly True Adventures of 2 Girls In Love (1995) (6.3)

Erin’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “We open with Laurel Holloman as “Randy” making out with an older married woman in a gas station bathroom. This, by the way, is the most interesting thing that will happen in this entire movie. Let that settle in.”

Drew: “The title is absurd, but the movie is amazing! It’s just so fun and sweet. And Laurel Holloman gives an actual good performance! It may even make you like Tina! Crazy!” (8)

Carmen: “Seeing a black film mainstay like Nicole Ari Parker in a lesbian film was very formative for me early on, seeing her play a middle class black girl coming to terms with her sexuality – doubly so.” (7)

Heather: “There’s still something charming about this Tina Kennard origin story.” (5)

Natalie: “I am on-board with Nicole Ari Parker playing gay from now until the end of time.” (5)

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14. I Can’t Think Straight (2008) (6)

Erin’s Autostraddle Review (2017): “Writer Shamim Sarif has managed a believable and engaging romantic comedy that doesn’t end in someone jumping off or setting fire to a building, and I think that deserves something special. DM me, Shamim.”

Heather: “I can’t remember what we all loved about this movie; maybe the fact that no one died?” (5)

Natalie: “I love this movie for what it is, an adorable lesbian romcom. ” (7)

Riese: “I could barely get through this the first time around, but found it refreshingly charming, if cheesy and formulaic, on my second watch.” (6)

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13. Summer of Sangalie (2015, The Netherlands) (6)

Heather: “It’s beautifully filmed, but there are better versions of this coming-of-age story that’s been told on a loop by indie filmmakers for the last three decades.” (6)

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12. Boy Meets Girl (2015) (6.7)

Mari’s Autostraddle Review (2015): “It’s a romantic comedy that’s actually both genuinely romantic, and genuinely funny.”

Drew: “It’s slightly saccharine, somewhat simple, and certainly flawed, but I don’t really care. This is literally the only romcom starring a trans woman I’ve ever seen and I cherish every adorable moment. Michelle Hendley’s performance is better than the movie and it makes me sad that she hasn’t had more of a career. I’d especially love to see her in something written and directed by a trans person!” (8)

Heather: “You mean trans actresses existed in 1994 and therefore every current argument from casting directors about trans actresses not existing isn’t true???” (6)

Riese: “”Very cute story offering important representation through a bisexual trans woman played by an actual trans actress.” (6)

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11. Summertime / La Belle Saison (2016, France) (7.5)

Drew: “I LOVED this movie when I first saw it. And then I was like, okay, calm down you’re just horny. But then I was like, sure, but isn’t that valid?? Izïa Higelin is endlessly swoon-worthy and I can’t resist her or the combination of lesbian love story and feminist political awakening.” (9)

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10. Kyss Mig/Kiss Me (2011, Sweden) (7.7)

Kate’s Autostraddle Review (2013): “What makes Kiss Me so wonderful, though, is that what could be a sudsy soap opera – two stepsisters falling for each other on the eve of a double wedding – is told in such a way that the emotions get to speak for themselves.”
Heather: “More lesbians should kiss and have sex in the sunlight on-screen like this.” (8)

Riese: “The plot was pretty standard for a lesbian movie but the characters win you over in this sweet, honest and engaging little romance.” (8)

Natalie: “Reminiscent of other lesbian movies you’ve probably seen but worth watching for the sizzling chemistry between the two leads.” (7)

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9. Margarita With a Straw (2015) (8.5)

Carrie’s Autostraddle Review (2016): “Margarita is pretty damn close to the movie I’ve always wanted. It’s funny, touching, visually rich, and only slightly too syrupy toward the end”

Kayla: “Honest, nuanced character development makes this movie a delight…most of the time…but there’s one plot development in particular that sits with me wrong.” (9)

Heather: “Finally some disability rep up in this canon!” (8)

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8. Disobedience (2018) (9)

Erin’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “I was informed by my viewing companion that I started to do the “wrap it up” hand motion before the credits even began to roll.”

Kayla’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “In short: This gorgeous movie featuring two famous Rachels and lesbian spitplay will probably make you cry. It’s sad throughout but not exactly tragic. ”

Heather: “A studied, stoic, brilliant addition to the list of films about lesbians oppressed by — and then freed from — the faith of their childhood. ” (10)

Kayla: “This gorgeous movie featuring two famous Rachels and lesbian spitplay will probably make you cry.” (10)

Drew: “Maybe it’s because I saw this in a theatre with reclining seats and my nails matched my outfit, but I loved this movie. That doesn’t mean I can defend it! It makes very little dramatic sense in lots of ways and so many creative choices make me fully crane my neck. But Rachel Weisz is so hot and that sex scene is so hot and it’s all so Jewish and I don’t know! Liking this movie was an even less popular take among friends than disliking The Favourite and I apologize my Weisz takes from last year were all wrong.” (7)

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7. Carol (2015) (9)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2015): “Perhaps the best praise I can give Carol is that ten minutes into it, I forgot it was my job to be a critic. Twenty minutes in, I forgot I was watching a movie at all.”

Carmen: “I have a lot of respect for this film – and I 100% think you should see it so you can get all the inside jokes that have permeated queer women’s pop culture – but ultimately it just isn’t my cup of tea. I’ll forever love Cate Blanchett and Sarah Paulson’s relationship in this movie. The best depiction of lesbian friendship I’ve probably ever seen on film.” (7)

Riese: “It’s basically flawless but also (sorry) a little slow — I admit my appreciation for it has grown through my extended close contact to #1 carol Fan, Erin.” (8)

Drew: “The best part of having a Christmas Eve birthday is watching this every year. Every year? Didn’t it come out like a few years ago? Yes, fine, but I’m committed to this tradition for the rest of my life, thank you very much.” (10)

Kayla: “Beautiful, quiet, tense, seismic—this movie perfectly captures early, new, slightly obsessive queer love.” (10)

Heather: “Dearest, it’s the greatest lesbian movie ever made.” (10)

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6. The Watermelon Woman (1997) (9.2)

Heather: “If this movie had had an actual budget, it would be regarded as one of the best and most important films in our canon. Its biting social critique is as relevant as ever.” (8)

Carmen: “Cheryl Dunye’s iconic work is like none other. It’s the very best of radical queer cinema and unapologetically black. If you’re looking for a real education in the best of our work on film, this is where you should absolutely start.” (10)

Drew: “This is my favorite movie of all time. It’s hilarious, it’s formally inventive, it has one of the best sex scenes ever, and it’s dealing with so, so much (the racism, sexism, and homophobia of film history, interracial relationships, exclusionary feminism, and so much more!). But the reason it’s my favorite movie is because of its message: If we don’t see ourselves on screen, we can put ourselves on screen.” (10)

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5. Circumstance (2011, Iran) (9.3)

Riese’s Autostraddle Review (2014): “This story is full of youth but also sexuality, and family and rules and an underworld where people can be who they are.”

Heather: “Sensual, sincere: It feels familiar, but brand new, too.” (9)

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4. Desert Hearts (1985) (9.7)

Rachel’s Autostraddle Review (2009): Bottom line, there’s something that resonates when watching this movie; something about it that makes it feel like it could be real. Or maybe just something you wish was real.”

Drew: “Okay people it’s time we shake off this movie’s corny classic reputation and respect it for the complicated, sexy masterpiece that it is! Its central relationship is obviously great, but its the supporting relationships that really elevate this film. Cay’s friendship with Silver is so touching, especially the scene in the bath. Also “I don’t act that way to change the world. I act that way so that the goddamn world won’t change me!” is one my favorite movie quotes ever. Also also Patrica Charbonneau invented pants.” (10)

Heather: “Desert Hearts still holds up as one of the great lesbian movies and romances in cinematic history, and the no-background-music sex is as erotic as ever.” (10)

Riese: “A lesbian love story so resonant and affecting it’s hard to believe it actually happened when it did.” (9)

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3. The Handmaiden (Korea) (2016) (9.8)

Riese: “Kinky sex and twist after twist after twist. Nothing to complain about here.” (10)

Heather: “One of the sexiest, most electrifying lesbian films I’ve ever seen. I bet Sarah Waters fucking loves this adaptation of her book.” (10)

Kayla: “There isn’t really a lesbian heist movie I don’t like, but this is one of the greatest ever made.” (10)

Drew: “Okay, yes, the sex is gratuitous and the violence is gratuitous and this is still very much a Park Chan-wook film. But his sensibilities are so well-balanced by Sarah Waters’ novel. This is a visually stunning, deeply thrilling movie.” (9)

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2. In Between (Israel) (2017) (10)

Drew: “I’ve never seen a film capture the mundanity of daily oppression as well as In Between, specifically how that affects people with multiple oppressed identities. This is an emotional, at times sexy, at times thrilling movie, that somehow still feels like just a slice of life.” (10)

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1. Rafiki (Kenya) (2018) (10)

Kari’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “Black African Woman Excellence at its best.”

Heather: “Truly, literally revolutionary.” (10)

12 Thrillers and Action Films With Lesbian and Bisexual Characters, Ranked

Welcome to the Autostraddle Team Movie Watch, in which our entire TV Team (we don’t have a Film Team, so we’re multi-tasking here) weighs in on a thematic set of lesbian/bisexual films! This week’s edition: thrillers and action movies. Sidenote: these aren’t comprehensive lists — there are plenty of films in this category we didn’t rank here that we are sure are much better or much worse than the ones on our list. It’s just a little window into the genre!

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12. Power Rangers (2017) (5.8)

Mey’s Autostraddle Review (2017): “This movie is funny, it’s not dark or grim or grimdark. It doesn’t take itself too seriously and it lets itself have a good time and be full of joy. It’s about friendship and family and teens being teens.”
Natalie: “Lacks the campiness of the old Power Rangers series and the action to compete with its modern counterparts (and, yes, I’ve seen a lot of Power Rangers in my day…I have nephews).” (4)
Heather: “Standard Power Rangers fare, confirming a thing we knew all along.” (6)
Kayla: “This movie didn’t quite live up to the hype for me, but I also am not as nostalgic about the Power Rangers as a lot of people are sorry!” (6)
Valerie: “I think part of the reason I loved this movie so much was that I saw it in a theater at midnight with a bunch of other people my age whose after-school babysitters WERE the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, so even though it was cheesy and goofy, it was just enough nostalgia, with an extra dose of new queerness, to make my heart feel happy.” (7)

11. Black Swan (2011) (6.7)

Phoenix’s Autostraddle Review: “But Black Swan is not a story about love lost. It is instead a story of inner conflict, a mondernized tale of ambition, lust, and pressure, pitting creative and destructive forces against each other in a disturbingly well-executed, mind-bending descent into madness.”
Heather: “Darren Aronofsky makes the inside of Tim Buton’s mind look like a trip to Disney World.” (4)
Natalie: “The haunting tale of insanity as the cost of perfection.” (5)
Valerie: “This movie was dark and twisty and stunning and scary and I am low-key obsessed with everything Mila Kunis does.” (7)
Drew: “Ballet + horror has fully become a trope and I don’t mind it one bit. The mix of body horror and elegance works so well here and bonus points for this coming out at the time in my life where I was at peak “I wish I was Natalie Portman.” I watched a lot of interviews with her on Youtube in 2010. A lot.” (8)
Carmen: “The movie that launched my decade-long crush on Mila Kunis; it’s also the femme psychological thriller of my dreams.” (9)
Kayla: “OKAY, I’m SORRY, but I will love this movie forever and ever most likely because it was one of the early lesbian sex scenes in my life and I nearly passed out in the movie theater when watching it.” (9)

10. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) (6.8)

Carolyn’s Autostraddle Review (2011): “With better production values, a more fluid plot, and several more believable characters, the American adaptation of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo” should be a definite improvement on the Swedish one. But it isn’t. With everything else aside, the main difference between the two is this: in the Swedish film, Lisbeth Salander is angry, purposeful, and smoldering. In the American film, she is fragile, alienated, and, at times, apologetic.”
Riese: “An incredible story but sorry to be that guy but the Swedish version is way better. And the rape scene was unforgivably gratuitous.”
Valerie: “Sometimes I hate myself for how often someone mentions a movie and I respond, “I liked the book better” but I am who I am and I feel how I feel.” (6)
Natalie: “The graphic violence is difficult to watch but if you can stomach it, you’ll be captivated by the performances of Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara.” (7)
Drew: “I’m not a big fan of rape/revenge films but there’s just something about the character of Lisbeth Salander that I can’t resist.” (7)
Kayla: “Dark, immersive, and starring a Mara sister, this movie checks a lot of boxes for me.” (7)
Heather: “Both the Swedish and American versions of these films are so brutal disturbing they made me feel physically ill, but Noomi Rapace and Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth Salanders are kickass bisexual misandrist action hero hackers who do what they have to do to survive in a world that hates women, and that’s beautiful.” (9)

9. Deadpool 2 (2018) (7)

Valerie’s Autostraddle Review: “…while I could have done without the fridging, overall I enjoyed Deadpool 2. For its humor, for its action sequences, for its relentless breaking of the fourth wall, and for giving us real, undeniable queer ladies.”
Kayla: “It’s got jokes and great action sequences, and it’s a rare big-budget superhero movie to acknowledge that women who date women actually exist.” (7)
Valerie: “I love Deadpool’s irreverent humor more than makes sense to me and I love how nonchalant Negasonic Teenager Warhead having a girlfriend ended up being.” (7)
Natalie: “Whatever preconceived ideas you have about superhero flicks, throw them out of the window: Deadpool is a different breed…and it’s very queer.” (7)

8. Atomic Blonde (2017) (7)

Drew: “This movie isn’t great, but it sure is fun! All attempts to make this a serious John le Carré-esque spy drama fail and they really should have just leaned into Charlize Theron being hot and beating people up. Because all of that is a blast.” (6)
Kayla: “Atomic Blonde is a stunning, queer action thriller, which is something I feel like I have been waiting my whole life for!”” (6)
Riese: “The unrepentant bisexuality of the film’s heroine was literally jaw-dropping. But the plot was an empty and incomprehensible maze.” (7)
Valerie: “It is a classic action movie in the most classic way, and it was one of those movies (not unlike Mad Max) that made me think, “Oh, it’s not that I don’t like this genre of movies, it’s just that I didn’t like dude-heavy options at my disposal.” (8)
Heather: “Easily some of the best acting and slickest actions sequence you’re going to find for a movie on the Lesbian Thrillers list.” (8)

7. Annihilation (2018) (7.2)

Kayla’s Autostraddle Review: “Rodriguez does many things at once in her performance in Annihilation… she’s funny, delivering some of the movie’s rare but needed bursts of comedic relief. But she also encompasses the emotional complexity of what it really means to enter the shimmer.”
Natalie: “Still not sure what happened in this movie but it’s worth watching for the cinematography alone. Also? Tessa Thompson and Gina Rodriguez.” (6)
Carmen: “It’s been over a year, and I still don’t understand what I was watching? But it’s definitely worth it for Gina Rodriguez with that hot queer undercut hairstyle.” (6)
Valerie: “I thought the movie would help me understand things the book did not, but alas. That said: Gina Rodriguez.” (7)
Drew: “I want to love this movie more than I do, because the parts I love I LOVE. Alas flashbacks dealing with the protagonist’s marriage woes really distract from the film’s abstract, beautiful, and horrifying explorations of nature and identity. This movie has one of the scariest sequences and one of the most beautiful sequences I’ve ever seen ever though.” (7)
Kayla: “What starts as a fairly straightforward sci-fi horror hybrid gradually becomes something much weirder.” (10)

6. Mullholland Drive (2001) (7.3)

Kayla: “The surrealism of this movie is intoxicating and dizzying, and its sex scene is one of my favorites.” (6)
Heather: “The biggest tragedy of modern lesbian pop culture is more people know gay Naomi Watts from that dumb Netflix show than they do from David Lynch’s psychologically cracked masterpiece. ” (8)
Drew: “I don’t think of this as a queer woman movie despite it being all about a romance between two women. But David Lynch’s strength has never been showing women in love. He has always been great at showing women in trauma and he’s never done that better than in this film. It’s a pretty monumental work of art as far as I’m concerned. It’s rare for a film this abstract to also be so tight and dramatically perfect.” (9)

5. V for Vendetta (2005) (7.4)

Kayla: “The Wachowskis write pulsating, complex, goddamn captivating queer women across their body of work, and Natalie Portman’s Evey is a powerful example.” (7)
Natalie: “Maybe a little too on the nose for our current political moment?” (7)
Drew: “I prefer the Wachowskis a bit campier and more unhinged, but this is still an exciting and effective movie.” (7)
Heather: “Never not timely!” (8)

4. D.E.B.S (2004) (8.6)

Crystal’s Autostraddle Review (2011): “Everything about this movie is totally f*cking ridiculous, but that’s apparently how I like it.”
Riese: “Delightfully campy and quite fun, D.E.B.S provides a queer twist on the satirical faux-spy-thriller with Angela Robinson’s snappy writing at the helm.” (7)
Carmen: “From black lesbian writer/director Angela Robinson comes this instant classic! Formative in the lesbian movie canon and a must watch for anyone who wants to learn more about our campy, “bad movie” roots.” (8)
Kayla: “I love camp, lesbians, and action movies, so in my book, this movie has it ALL.” (8)
Natalie: “Pure, pure fun.” (8)
Drew: “Angela Robinson makes film and television like what she’s doing is the most normal thing in the world. Of course there would be a fun action comedy with lesbians! No matter that it had never been done before (or, honestly, since). It’s so light and breezy and given the history of queer cinema the importance of light and breezy cannot be overstated.” (9)
Heather: “One of the best lesbian movies of all time: A formulaic rom-com wrapped lovingly in camp and placed gently inside an all-girls school for spies run by Holland Taylor!” (10)
Valerie: “This is easily in my top 3 favorite lesbian movies of all time, from the first time I secretly rented it all summer from Blockbuster until just a few months ago when I rewatched it with my friends at a Bad Lesbian Movie Brunch. It brings me so much JOY.” (10)

3. Bound (1996) (8.8)

Natalie: “On the one hand, a very dark and violent film, on the other, one of the best lesbian sex scenes ever in film.” (6)
Heather: “The origin story of kickass lesbians in tank tops.” (8)
Riese: “Every smoldering detail is finely honed AND they hired a lesbian sex consultant to choreograph the best parts.” (10)
Kayla: “A true classic in the “lesbians doing crimes” genre, and Gina Gershon’s queer sex appeal is…too powerful” (10)
Drew: “A classic film noir mixed with the Wachowskis’ unique visual style mixed with lesbians, lesbians, amazing sex scenes with lesbians. This is suspenseful and sexy, sweet and satisfying. I honestly think this might just be the perfect movie.” (10)

2. A Simple Favor (2018) (9)

Kayla’s Autostraddle Review: “Incest, revenge arson, frame jobs, affairs, and secret siblings all make appearances in this tableau of fuckery. It’s a Mommi murder mystery that knows exactly how ridiculous is, the whole cast in on the joke.”
Natalie: “HAVE YOU SEEN BLAKE LIVELY IN THOSE SUITS?” (7)
Drew: “Blake Lively does literally nothing for me. And that remains true, even in a suit. But I do deeply understand being an awkward brunette who feels inadequate next to confident, manipulative cis blonde women! And this movie was legitimately great! You all weren’t just horny and I’m sorry for thinking that was the case.” (8)
Valerie: “I expected to barely tolerate this movie in exchange for getting to watch Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick interact but I spent the entire time pulling at my collar and leaping up from my couch and gasping and shouting and LOVING EVERY SECOND of this sexy, bonkers story.” (10)
Riese: “The best movie of all time.” (10)
Heather: “If you don’t understand the thing where lesbians beg to be run over/emotionally devastated by someone, it’s because you haven’t seen Blake Lively in this movie.” (10)

1. Set It Off (2006) (9.2)

Drew: “It’s hilarious to me that film circles are still losing their minds for Heat 25 years later when a significantly better heist movie came out one year later. But that’s racism, sexism, and homophobia for you! The characters are so well-written and well-performed, this totally just works as a great character drama alongside all the action.” (8)
Natalie: “The ultimate all-women’s heist movie (#SorryNotSorry, Oceans 8) with a healthy dose of gay.” (9)
Heather: “Queen Latifah as Cleo is absolutely essential queer cinema viewing.” (9)
Kayla: “Heist movies are always fun but ESPECIALLY when they are gay and women-centric.” (10)
Carmen: “RUN TO SEE THIS MOVIE!! BRING TISSUES!! GET READY TO CRY!! IT’S SO GOOD!” (10)

10 Coming-of-Age Lesbian or Bisexual Movies, Ranked

Welcome to the Autostraddle Team Movie Watch, in which our entire TV Team (we don’t have a Film Team, so we’re multi-tasking here) weighs in on a thematic set of lesbian/bisexual films! Because we contain multitudes! This week’s edition: Coming-of-Age! This isn’t every coming of age film, just a small selection.

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10. Lost and Delirious (2001) (4.8)

Riese’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “Paulie, when not literally nursing a random wild bird back to health, is gallivanting about campus with zealous baroque literary zeal and trust me — I like a good mental illness movie, but this ain’t it. Instead of witnessing anything resembling genuine emotional transformation, pain or complication, we get a litany of Shakespearean allusions.”

Valerie: “This movie came to me in a time when I was depressed and closeted and for a long time I used it as a litmus test for whether I was totally numb or not so it will always have a special place in my over-dramatic, Piper Perabo-loving heart.” (6)

Kayla: Yes, this movie is hot garbage, but I also can’t help but love how truly deranged it is?????? (5)

Heather “At least 45% responsible for the Bury Your Gays trope.” (3)

Riese: “Overwhelmed by raven metaphors and heavy-handed English lit class parallels, this movie is, while well-cast and delicious, is objectively one of the worst films I’ve ever seen.” (1)

Drew: “Is this movie melodramatic? Is the symbolism heavy-handed? Is it filled with whiny teenagers overreacting to everything? Sure. Just like a little play called Romeo & Juliet! OKAY. HEAR ME OUT. Piper Perabo’s Paulie Oster quotes Shakespeare repeatedly throughout the film because she relates to the theatrical emotion. This movie feels like it was made by teenagers in a really pointed and beautiful, and yes, sometimes silly, way. Maybe I’m over-intellectualizing to justify my crush on Piper Perabo.” (9)

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9. The Truth About Jane (2000) (5.5)

Heather: “It’s a Lifetime lesbian coming-of-age movie made in George W. Bush’s America; that pretty much says it all.” (5)

Riese: “The made-for-TV issue-of-the-week format isn’t known for its intense cinematic quality but this movie did what it set out to do and did it well. ” (6)

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8. My Summer of Love (2004) (7)

Laura’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “Like all bad girl stories, this one ends with a bucket full of lies, but it’s all the spinning out of control that makes this movie feel a little bit magic and a little bit real.”

Riese: “A sweet sunny story that eventually unfolds into a twisted mess but the journey was surprisingly delightful, for its time.” (7)

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7. Mosquita y Mari (2012) (8)

Gabby on Autostraddle (2012): “…[it dives] into our DNA, finds the bits that make us who we are and blasts them onto the screen.”

Carmen: “A quiet queer Latina coming of age that’s sure to warm the heart of any nerd who had a crush on the “bad girl” in high school.” (9)

Heather: “Sweet and tender and aching, just like falling in love with your best friend for the first time in real life.” (8)

Natalie: “Written and directed by Aurora Guerrero, this is the beautiful coming of age story about a friendship that grows into something more.” (8)

Riese: “Very cute and light but definitely leaves you yearning for it to go just a little bit farther into the story than it does.” (7)

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6. Water Lilies (2007, France) (9)

Drew: “Céline Sciamma’s filmmaking, her delicate approach to characters paired with her inventive yet grounded visual style, arrived fully formed in her debut. This film feels really personal and I think that’s why it’s her best.” (10)

Heather: “A provocative French coming-of-age story about a lesbian that doesn’t end in tragedy! A miracle!” (9)

Riese: “I think I was stoned when I watched this at my friend’s house on a Netflix DVD and I remember being a little confused, which was probably on me?” (8)

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5. The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018) (9)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2018): Moretz’s performance is understated, assured… Watching her watch Desert Hearts to watch her best friend’s reaction to it is one of the realest things I’ve ever seen on-screen.

Heather: “A harrowing, heartbreaking, hilarious adaptation of e.m. danforth’s ionic lesbian YA novel.” (10)

Drew: “I adore Desiree Akhavan’s sense of humor and her understanding of queer trauma. Using Cameron’s experience of conversion therapy, Akhavan explores the ways most queer people have doubted our truths. I do wish a Two-Spirit actor and a disabled actor had been cast and I wonder if that would’ve made Cameron’s friends’ stories feel as alive as hers. But as is I still think this is an all-time great queer film. ” (9)

Valerie: “This movie was so powerful and stunning and tragically beautiful, though I can’t help but compare it to the book because of who I am as a person and it fell JUST short of my expectations, which is the only reason it didn’t get a perfect score from me.” (9)

Kayla: “The silences in this movie are some of the most striking parts, and Desiree Akhavan is one hell of a director.” (8)

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4. Princess Cyd (2017) (9.3)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2017): “Princess Cyd is quiet almost to the point of stillness and deeply generous. It believes women will heal each other and their communities. It hopes.”

Drew: “This isn’t a movie. It’s a warm candlelit bath. And you’re reading an enjoyable, intellectually stimulating book. And that book has pictures and the pictures are of Jessie Pinnick in a tuxedo.” (10)

Heather: “A talky, delicate, hazy summer days indie about two women — a teen named Cyd and her single aunt — who discover more about themselves as they learn about each other. ” (10)

Kayla: “This movie is an insightful, understated character study with brilliant performances.” (9)

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3. All Over Me (1997) (9.3)

Riese’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “In All Over Me, Ellen’s recklessly flirtatious teasing of her best friend and freestyle application of sexual power rings precisely and powerfully true.”

Drew: “Currently my phone wallpaper, the Sichel Sisters only (ugh!) narrative feature is everything I want in a movie: Teen dykes, unrequited love, toxic friendship, gay meet cute, supportive queer men, passive aggressive mom, Leisha Hailey with pink hair, amazing soundtrack, made in the 90s, Leisha Hailey with pink hair.” (10)

Heather: “This movie was revolutionary in its portrayal of a lesbian who comes of age inside a very confusing relationship with her best friend; two decades later, it still holds up.” (9)

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2. Pariah (2011) (9.3)

Spectra’s Autostraddle Review (2011): “…whether or not you are part of the LGBT community, expect to “aww” and cringe several times per scene, as both the acting and directing create a winning combination for unlocking the most powerful tool in social change: empathy.”

Drew: “Dee Rees is one of THE great contemporary filmmakers and her debut shows why. Pariah sticks pretty closely to classic coming-of-age story beats, but it’s just SO GOOD. Adepero Oduye’s performance is amazing, Bradford Young’s cinematography is his best work, and the soundtrack is fantastic.” (10)

Kayla: “Dee Rees is an incredible writer and director, and Pariah is a FEAT.” (10)

Carmen: “Dee Rees’ talent is undeniable, and Pariah is her magnum opus; it would be hard to find a more authentic portrayal of young black queerness of film. (10)

Natalie: “Written and directed by Dee Rees, Pariah is, as Lena Waithe once said, our “Moonlight.” (9)

Heather: “Just when you think lesbian coming-of-age stories have nothing new left to say, Dee Rees sweeps in and coaxes a stunning, raw performance out of Adepero Oduye in a timeless story that somehow feels fresh.” (8)

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1. Show Me Love / Fucking Amal (1999, Sweden) (9.7)

Lily’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “Quiet throughout but with a feel-good resolution; Fucking Amal leaves you giddy with first-love nostalgia and no Celene Dion songs stuck in your head.”

Riese: “So real it hurts.” (10)

Drew: “Mean-spirited, angsty, and oh so sweet this is a triumphant queer romance that earns its happiness. ” (10)

Heather: “This coming-of-age story is a cut above the rest: sweet and real and surprising, with better-than-average acting.” (9)

20 Lesbian and Bisexual Comedy Movies, Ranked

Welcome to the Autostraddle Team Movie Watch, in which our entire TV Team (we don’t have a Film Team, so we’re multi-tasking here) weighs in on a thematic set of lesbian/bisexual films! Because you know what, sometimes everybody except Riese thinks Battle of the Sexes is an incredible film and y’all need to know that we are not a monolith. Except… when we are. This week’s edition: Comedies!

FYI: This isn’t a comprehensive list of all lesbian / bisexual romantic comedies or a list of the best ones, it’s just a SAMPLING of the genre. 

The numbers are an average of all of our ratings, but not every rater also wrote a review. 

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20. Duck Butter (2018) (4)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “The sex was good but the delirious lesbian mumblecore didn’t leave a lasting impression.”

Kayla: “The sex scenes are hands-down the best parts of this movie, and that’s important!” (7)

Heather: “One of the most unlikable love interests in any lesbian love story ever told — and unnecessarily gross too. ” (3)

Drew: “How. How is this movie so bad. I kept waiting for it to be good. Because Alia Shawkat. And lots of sex scenes. And talking. I like all those things! But it’s just… bad.” (2)

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19. Almost Adults (2017) (4.7)

Valerie’s Autostraddle Review (2017): “Almost Adults isn’t perfect, but there’s a lot to love about a film that sidesteps so many traditional lesbian movie tropes. (Including: No one dies!)”

Valerie: “This movie was cute and queer and centers a friendship which I really appreciated but I’m not like…in a rush to see it again.” (6)

Heather: “You’d probably have more fun watching Carmilla again.” (5)

Drew: “It’s sweet enough, and its heart is in the right place, but the script just isn’t very good. It took me a few tries to get through this one, to be quite honest.” (3)

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18. The Intervention (2016) (5.3)

Kayla’s Autostraddle Review (2016): “It’s a very likable movie about unlikable people.”

Heather: “Such potential for a pretty mediocre indie Big Chill.” (5)

Riese: “The characters never managed to make strong cases for any of their narratives to exist, but it was cool to have the queer couple integrated so seamlessly.” (5)

Kayla: “The Intervention has undeniably intricate, believable characters, but it’s hard to ignore its whiteness when this particular brand of indie film is so saturated with stories about white people.” (6)

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17. Lez Bomb (2018) (5.5)

Heather’s Review of Lez Bomb (2018): I cannot stress enough that this is a true and traditional comedy of errors, brushing up against all the tropes that have been built atop the stock plot since Elizabethans embraced it centuries ago.

Drew: “A farce about lesbians is a great pitch and I wish this had stuck to it a bit more. All attempts to have emotional character moments fall flat and it’s not nearly as funny as it needs to be to make up for that. But it’s pleasant enough.” (4)

Heather: “A comedy of errors with some legitimately hilarious and cringe-worthy moments — but it drags on too long trying to fully realize all of its characters instead of growing its main two.” (7)

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16. The Kids Are All Right (2010) (5.5)

Julie and Brandy’s Autostraddle Review (2010): “The writing was charming and poignant, the directing was thoughtful without being heavy-handed, and the acting.. wow. The fucking acting. They were all great, but Annette Benning was giving ACTOR’S STUDIO LESBIAN EXECUTIVE REALNESS.”

Natalie: “A mainstream movie starring a lesbian couple…this was supposed to be a watershed moment; instead it’s about a woman that cheats on her wife with a man. The straights love it, you probably won’t though.” (3)

Carmen: “Eh. You think you’re going to watch a movie about lesbians, but it’s actually about the man who was their sperm donor. The ultimate – and most disappointing – bait and switch. Annette Bening is still a master of her craft.” (5)

Drew: “I don’t know why this movie does little for me. Usually I’m a big fan of anything about narcissistic, unlikable queers. Maybe I need to see it again.” (6)

Heather: “It’d be ten for me if no middle aged lesbians in committed monogamous relationships slept with men!” (7)

Riese: “Functioned adeptly on all levels of craft and story, with funny and memorable characters who are rarely seen in mainstream cinema — I just wish it hadn’t been centered on a trope we all hate. And yes I mean sleeping with a guy but I mainly mean a married lesbian couple no longer interested in sleeping with each other.” (7)

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15. Wine Country (2019) (6)

Heather’s review of Wine Country (2009): “Wine Country isn’t just womanhood and women’s friendships; it’s specifically middle age womanhood and friendships… These women aren’t just united by their shared experiences; they’re also united by the fact that they, you know, watch TV shows on TVs. And that they know what TV shows are.”

Drew: “Obviously filled with talented people, this aggressively Netflix Netflix movie was really disappointing. It’s okay for a movie to have low-stakes, but it just wasn’t funny enough to justify the pace or lack of plot. It also had a boring animosity towards millennials. It’s fine to make fun of young people, but try to be clever about it.” (3)

Heather: “If Wine Country were actually wine, it’d be a nice canned rosé. Nothing fancy, pretty tasty, nice to crack open on a Sunday summer afternoon when you don’t have anything else to do. (It’s surprisingly gay!)” (7)

Carmen: “I loved Wine Country so much; perfectly chill summer comedy fair! And Paula Pell is the comedic breakout star, which is all the better because she’s playing the lesbian in the crew.” (8)

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14. Rough Night (2017) (6.3)

Kayla: “This movie was funny and twisty and marketed poorly, so ignore the trailers and just dive into its weirdo comedy.” (8)

Heather: “Surprisingly funny and feminist! The trailer did not do this film justice, nor did the studio, which very obviously forced an edit that included way more dudes than necessary.” (7)

Riese: “Much better than the preview might suggest (there’s a lot the preview suggests that isn’t accurate, actually!), with a surprise queer love story and a lot of funny moments from Kate McKinnon and Ilana Glazer.” (6)

Drew: “Someone give Kate McKinnon her own movie!! I’m tired of her being the sidekick. And she’s not even gay in this! But Ilana Glazer and Zoë Kravitz are and that’s cool. Unfortunately the movie is just too glossy. It feels expensive and stilted which is not what you want from a comedy!” (4)

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13. The Feels (2015) (7)

Heather’s The Feels review (2018): “Lesbian mumblecore is practically its own genre at this point, and The Feels glides easily into place alongside Duck Butter, The Intervention, Suicide Kale, etc. with its boundary-less relationships, improvised dialogue, characters who remind you of your own friends, and those stifled hiccups that give way to just enough drama to make the happy ending rewarding.”

Heather: “Constance Wu in a Big Chill-style lesbian rom-com with a lot of heart and a happy ending.” (7)

Drew: “Constance Wu as a lesbian! Constance Wu as a lesbian! This movie is fun and sweet and while it may not be perfect, I would just like to share that Constance Wu does in fact play a lesbian.” (7)

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12. Life Partners (2014) (7)

Brittani’s Autostraddle Review (2014): “…a film in which everything that could go usually wrong in a lesbian film inexplicably doesn’t!”

Heather: “Sometimes it’s nice to know a lesbian can be for real best friends with a straight girl and no one’s taking advantage of anyone’s intimacy or getting their heart shredded.” (8)

Drew: “Wow does this movie make heterosexuality look unappealing. Adam Brody is every guy your straight friends have ever dated and it’s hilarious. This is a sweet best friend romcom that’s nice if unremarkable. Kate McKinnon does have a great cameo though.” (6)

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11. Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) (7.75)

Heather: “This movie gets a bad wrap but I personally think it’s smart and funny as hell.” (8)

Drew: “I love 80% of this movie too much to process the ending. Maybe it’s actually deep and complex! I don’t care. You cannot give me a queer woman romcom that delightful and Jewish and then take it away from me that harshly.” (7)

Riese: “At the time, I hated this movie, as it was one of a few lesbian-ish films to get a wide release and was ultimately about a girl who decided she wasn’t really into lesbianism after all. Sexless lesbian trope again! But now that we have more options, I realize that it’s actually pretty cute and fun.” (6)

Sarah: “All time favorite lesbian movie — I watch this at least 2x a year. Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt are a perfect on-screen duo and I love that they wrote/produced/starred in this film together (which was once an off-Broadway play they produced called Lipschtick!). Jessica’s anxiety is both relatable and adorable, and Helen is sexy and perfect. For a film produced in 2001 it is 99.9% inoffensive. Don’t @ me about the ending either.” (10)⁣

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10. Someone Great (2019) (7.3)

From Carmen and Natalie’s Autostraddle Review: “At it’s core, Someone Great is a comedy about getting high and drunk with your girls, listening to some great pop music, and growing up a little in the process.”

Carmen: “My favorite kind of comedy can be best described as ‘girls get together do the kind of stupid shit that they used to only let boys get away with on screen.’ Which is to say, I was an easy mark for “Someone Great” right from the start. If you want enjoy a bunch of best friends drink champagne straight from the bottle and dance around to Top 40 hits in their underwear, you could do a lot worse.” (9)

Natalie: “A fun, drunken romp with your straight best friends, set to an enviable soundtrack, without having to leave the couch.” (7)

Drew: “I watched this movie about an NYU grad saying goodbye to a relationship and moving to the west coast less than two months after I, an NYU grad, said goodbye to a relationship and moved to the west coast. Truthfully don’t know how to assess this as a movie. It had a lot of montages and I cried.” (6)

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9. Booksmart (2019) (8)

Heather’s Booksmart review (2019): “Booksmart is a brilliant teen flick and a savvy female-fronted comedy and an exceptional lesbian film — and it’s also just a really smart, really funny movie. It transcends every genre it’s a part of.”

Drew: “I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It’s funny and well-made and I truly could watch nothing but teen coming-of-age movies for the rest of my life. But I wish it had been a bit more grounded in time (either make your movie a period piece or don’t have a group of 18 year olds sing Alanis Morissette) and I wish the queer love story didn’t feel like the least developed part of the story.” (7)

Carmen: “I really wanted to love Booksmart (and was prepared to do so!) but ultimately it left me a little cold. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Even though it centers on two teen girls, one of whom is queer, it ultimately still felt like a story I’ve seen before.” (7)

Heather: “There’s a reason this comedy has maintained a near 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating: It’s so funny and so clever and so fresh and so queer and nothing but the female gaze.” (10)

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8. Grandma (2015) (8.6)

Carmen: “Lily Tomlin playing a pot smoking lesbian grandma! That’s enough to sell the movie alone, but it’s also heart-forward, super feminist, and ultimately delightful as it you pass the time. Saying Tomlin is a comedic genius is redundant at this point, but damn she’s a queen in her field for a reason.” (9)

Heather: “As always, Lily Tomlin is a revelation.” (9)

Drew: “It is such a delight to watch a performer who has accomplished so much get a vehicle like this to really just let it all out there. What can one even say about Lily Tomlin? It’s such a pleasure to watch the ways her performance shifts depending on her scene partner. The whole cast is so good and she elevates all of them. They elevate each other really. It’s the mark of a great performer.” (8)

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7. Hearts Beat Loud (2018) (8.8)

Carmen’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “I don’t remember the last time I got to see young black lesbians have the opportunity to love each other like this on a big screen. In all honesty, the reason I can’t remember is probably because I never have.”

Heather: “Seems like another indie about a dying record store set in Brooklyn and a middle aged white guy who can’t grow up and let go, but Kiersey Clemons elevates that tired story and makes Hearts Beat Loud a transcendent coming-of-age lesbian (and self-) love story.” (10)

Carmen: “Part quirky coming of age, part teenage love story, this movie is capital “P” Perfection! Kiersey Clemons absolutely lights up the screen!” (10)

Kayla: “This movie just fills me with so much joy, and both Kiersey Clemons and Sasha Lane are extremely magnetic stars on the rise.” (10)

Natalie: “In an era of coming of age and first love movies that try to do too much, Hearts Beat Loud stands out for its beauty and restraint.” (8)

Drew: “This movie is so sweet and kind. Nick Offerman’s character is given a bit too much focus for my taste (especially in the grating romantic subplot with Toni Collette), but everything with Kiersey Clemons is great. And the songs are so catchy! I also appreciate the scene where she’s angsty watching Mitski videos online. Representation is important!” (7)

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6. Suicide Kale (2015) (9)

Heather’s Review (2015): “Suicide Kale isn’t just some pet project your faves crafted from nothing. Suicide Kale is a REALLY good movie.”

Kayla: “It’s dark, funny, and smart, and the twist works very well!” (10)

Drew: “It is such a relief to watch a movie about queer women that’s this hilarious and smart and feels both dramatically heightened and so, so real. This movie makes everything its doing look so easy and yet it accomplishes something so rare.” (9)

Heather: “A mumblecore lesbian indie comedy with a fresh premise, a shocking (and hilarious) climax, and some hard-won hope in its resolution.” (9)

Valerie: “This sort of felt like I was spying on my friends because it felt so personal and funny and real.” (8)

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5. Imagine Me & You (2006) (9.2)

Alex’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “Three reasons this movie did not suck: Piper Perabo, Lena Headley, and most importantly — the girl gets the girl in the end!”

Heather: “Straight people have Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks; we have Imagine Me & You.” (10)

Natalie: “Are there better movies? Maybe. Is this still my absolute favorite? Definitely.” (10)

Carmen: “I love that “Imagine Me & You” doesn’t pretend to be something that it’s not. This is a corny romantic comedy, in the same vein as any Julia Roberts or Reese Witherspoon classic – except it’s gay. That’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a movie, to be quite honest.” (10)

Drew: “This movie singlehandedly made me believe in love at first sight. It was deeply damaging and ruined my life. Thanks a lot!” (9)

Kayla: “This movie has its flaws, but the way it follows a conventional rom-com format but makes it super gay was so striking to me when I first saw it, and Lena Headey is enchanting.” (8)

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4. Blockers (2018) (9.6)

Mey’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “This movie is the counterargument to all the straight male comedians who say there’s nothing funny about feminism. It’s full of jokes about the patriarchy and regressive sexual attitudes, and that’s a great look for the future of comedy.”

Riese: “The most underrated movie of 2018 is a genuinely funny, truly feminist and totally sex-positive take on the teenage sex romp with an adorable and perfect lesbian character.” (11)

Kayla: “This is another big comedy release that was unfortunately marketed poorly, but it’s extremely funny and smart, and its baby gay storyline made me cry and laugh!” (10)

Carmen: “Blockers” snuck up on me, and then I watched it like five times in a row! That’s how much I loved it. This is everything I want in a teen girl comedy – effervescent, a wee bit raunchy, and above all adamant in letting young women have full control and respect of their own bodies! PLUS IT’S GAY!” (10)

Heather: “I would have never watched this if Riese hadn’t become an evangelist for it, but I’m so glad I did; it’s surprisingly progressive and self-aware and gay!” (8)

Drew: “Literally everything I want from a big budget Hollywood comedy. It’s hilarious from beginning to end, all the characters are well-developed and real, and it’s at least a third gay which is the minimal amount of gay! I’ve been burned so many times by raunchy studio comedies I went with such low expectations and I left with a new favorite. Truly fantastic.” (9)

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3. Appropriate Behavior (2014) (9.8)

Riese: “Desiree Akhavan is your brutally honest misanthropic anti-pixie dream girl, vacillating from hyperbolic millennial despair to Broad City-style repellant charm. Quirky, funny, and delightfully indie, chock-full of inside queer jokes that’ll surprise you and tickle your rib-cage. I would like Desiree Akhavan to be my wife?” (10)

Heather: “Look, just watch everything Desiree Akhavan ever makes. It’s all a ten.” (10)

Drew: “If I had to choose one artist making the kind of queer work I most want to see it would be Desiree Akhavan. And if I had to choose one person I’ve never met to marry it would also be Desiree Akhavan! I’m just so in love with her artistic sensibility. Her willingness to be real and messy and not worry about respectability politics of any kind makes for such great movies and television. And she’s so hot. Like… okay saving the rest for my journal because this will be publicly online, but, like, yeah.” (9)

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2. But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) (10)

Drew: “This perfect gay masterpiece deserves its reputation and more. It’s a hilarious and campy treat made for queer eyes only. And Natasha Lyonne who is honorary.” (10)

Natalie: “The best lesbian movie ever made.” (10)

Kayla: “It’s a modern classic for a reason, and its grasp on lesbian-specific camp is delicious.” (10)

Carmen: “Campy, queer, perfection! “But I’m a Cheerleader” absolutely nails all of it. This indie comedy darling is as good as you’ve heard it is – it lives up to its own hype in every way.” (10)

Heather: “The most iconic lesbian movie ever.” (10)

Riese: “Hilarious and smart. The ’90s brought us some of independent film’s sharpest, snarkiest, funnest rom-coms, but none of them were gay until “But I’m a Cheerleader,” which also has a killer cast and sweet sweet lady kisses.” (10)

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1. Saving Face (2005) (10)

Riese: “A perfect lesbian rom-com.” (10)

Heather: “Perfect.” (10)

Carmen: “Lesbian films that are made by and for queer women of color are their own rare, fleeting shooting star. Alice Wu’s “Saving Face” is its own damn universe – it’s more than a popcorn flick rom-com. “Saving Face” will leave your heart open and beating out its chest. True love captured on screen.” (10)

Natalie: “Alice Wu writes and directs this incredible romantic comedy about letting go of expectations and embracing your identity.” (10)

Drew: “The kind of movie that makes me feel like anything is possible, as a person, as a filmmaker. This is a romcom and yet it’s so much more. Maybe that’s unfair to romcoms, but this just feels so special. I watch so many mediocre gay love stories because they’re gay. It’s thrilling to watch a gay movie that succeeds at things its straight counterparts couldn’t even imagine.” (10)

21 Lesbian and Bisexual Movies Based on a True Story, Ranked

Welcome to the Autostraddle Team Movie Watch, in which our entire TV Team (we don’t have a Film Team, so we’re multi-tasking here) weighs in on a thematic set of lesbian/bisexual films! This week’s edition: Lesbian Films Based on True Stories! Sidenote: these aren’t comprehensive lists — there are plenty of films in this category we didn’t rank here that we are sure are much better or much worse than the ones on our list. It’s just a little sliver of some of the films in this genre!

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21. Lizzie (2018) (5)

Fonseca’s Review for Autostraddle (2018): “Lizzie is brutal, historically attuned, and committed to exploring effeminate trauma and retaliation.”
Kayla: “Despite its stellar cast and murdery premise, this retelling of Lizzie Borden’s story is…dull.” (5)

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20. The Girl King (2015) (5)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2015): “The problem with this movie is that it doesn’t know if it wants to be high camp or a serious period piece, so it splits the difference to varying degrees of success.”

Valerie: “I don’t remember hating this movie but I don’t really remember much about it overall; I think it was one of those movies I wished was more about the relationship between the two women and less about…literally anything else.”(5)
Riese: “I … feel like this was bad.” (5)

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19. Reaching For The Moon (2014) (5.5)

Hansen’s Autostraddle Review (2014): “Reaching for the Moon illustrates how creativity and power and passion shape the world through two character’s imagination and strength.”

Riese: “As I recall, I found this to be pretty dull, but I sensed that I was not correct to feel that way.” (5)
Heather: “Elizabeth Bishop would have hated to see herself portrayed so dramatically, which nudges this very loose biopic from a five to a six in my esteem.” (6)

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18. Farewell My Queen (2009) (6)

Riese: “I definitely saw this movie but I also don’t really remember it, I think ’cause I couldn’t really follow what was going on?” (5)
Heather: “Benoît Jacquot’s 2012 circus-colored period piece about Marie Antoinette’s purported queerness and demise is a fine appetizer for The Favourite.” (7)

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17. The Danish Girl (2015) (6.3)

Drew: “This is certainly a polished film, a competent film primed for Oscars. But oh how I loathe it. Eddie Redmayne’s performance is horrendous and its portrayal of dysphoria, transitioning, and specifically transitioning within a relationship all feels deeply false. It’s not a good sign when your movie about the first “sex change” ever leaves me, a trans person, wishing it had focused exclusively on Lili Elbe’s cis partner.” (3)
Heather: “If they’d actually cast a trans woman in this role, it’d be one of the best movies on this list.” (7)
Kayla: “It really is a great film, and it’s a shame they didn’t cast it right.” (7)
Riese: “Gorgeous, fascinating period film featuring lesbian love between a cis and trans woman — if only they’d cast a trans actress to play the lead!” (8)

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16. Freeheld (2015) (6.5)

Riese’s Autostraddle Review (2015): “A really solid film with a lesbian couple smack dab at the center of a small story with national implications… not without lightness, either, or humor in fists, humor at the moments when you most need it (because you were just crying). It’s a real rollercoaster, y’all.”

Drew: “Ellen Page and Julianne Moore are sweet together and you will probably cry. But this movie made my skin crawl. It is filled with pro-cop propaganda and shows policework around drugs with the complexity of an episode of Law and Order. It spends a lot of its runtime making a hero out of straight “ally” Michael Shannon, letting Steve Carell (straight, Catholic) be a “funny” Jewish gay man, and clarifying that Josh Charles was a good guy on the legislature the whole time. The movie really made me think about which queer lives we care about in politics and on screen, and which we do not.” (3)
Heather: “I don’t like to cry this much, like in a year’s time, and certainly not in one afternoon, especially in a movie that kind of felt like it was made for straight people.” (6)
Kayla: “I think I cried during just…the entirety of this movie?” (9)

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15. Collette (2018) (7.7)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “On the whole, though, Colette is a lush, brilliantly scored, perfectly acted, beautifully directed biopic.”
Drew: “All I want is a super queer Keira Knightley period piece. And this certainly has its delicious moments. But it’s politically and artistically damaging to cast a cis actor in a trans role and Denise Gough does an especially heinous job at it. This could have been a really fun, if unremarkable, movie, but instead it left a sour taste in my mouth.” (5)
Kayla: “I found this to be a really gorgeous, understated biopic that went pretty underrated!” (8)
Heather: “Keira Knightly brilliantly captures the spirit of prolific bisexual French author and actress Colette. The main problem with this movie is its too sympathetic to her dirtbag husband.” (10)

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14. Battle of the Sexes (2017) (7.8)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2017): “It’s a comedy about a charming, washed-up, middle-aged gambling addict looking for a little notoriety and one more hustle. It’s a period drama about a group of women athletes trying to get equal pay and a little respect. It’s a sports movie, complete with breathless action sequences, overwrought crowd reactions, and a soaring score. It’s a biopic about a legend. And it’s one of the best lesbian films I’ve ever seen.”
Riese: “I didn’t NOT enjoy it, but there were so many moments where we laughed at things that were not supposed to be funny.” (5)
Drew: “The haircut scene! I know this isn’t a great movie, but I got fully wrapped up in its soft feminism and cute gay love story.” (7)
Kayla: “As a Tennis Dyke as well as a fan of sensual hairplay, this movie is very important to me.” (8)
Heather: “Emma Stone does such justice to the legacy of Billie Jean King in the hands down best lesbian sports movie ever made.” (10)

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13. Frida (2002) (7.8)

Carmen: “What amazes most about Frida is how well it holds up over 15 years later. Salma Hayek absolutely did right by an icon.” (8)
Kayla: “The way this film’s depiction (and Salma Hayek’s performance) of Frida reads as instantly, deeply, effortlessly queer was really ahead of its time for 2002.” (8)
Natalie: “A movie that strives to be as creative, audacious and seductive as the artist it depicts…and succeeds most of the time.” (7)

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12. The Runaways (2010) (8)

Julie and Brandy’s Autostraddle Review (2010): “This movie fucking rocked. A chick directed it and wrote it. It made you just wanna go out and go to a rock club and fucking do it. It’s a Girl Power Movie and every lesbian needs to go and see this.”
Heather: “It’s so weird to think anyone ever thought Kristen Stewart was straight.” (8)
Kayla: “This grimy, gay rock movie is fun and hot, if not that deep.” (8)
Valerie: “I saw this movie in college and it was the first movie I ever started back over from the beginning as soon as it was over. Then I watched the director’s commentary after that.” (8)

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11. Pride (2014) (8)

Kaitlyn’s Autostraddle Review (2014): “It’s also just a sweet and hilarious movie with a diverse cast of characters (for the setting, at least) that feels comfortably familiar. The ending left me more emotional and triumphant than any movie in recent memory.”
Carmen: “I was genuinely surprised by how sweet and funny this movie ended up being! A true delight! I would it recommend to anyone. It has a lot of political poignancy, but also goes down easy.” (10)

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10. I Shot Andy Warhol (1996) (8)

Drew: “This movie is really good when focusing on Valerie Solanas. And since she’s the protagonist that means most of the movie is really good! Unfortunately the subplot with Candy Darling is bad bad bad. And not just because a cis man plays her! I promise! They just fundamentally do not seem to understand who Candy was and it’s a really missed opportunity because she would’ve been an interesting foil to Solanas’ story.” (7)
Riese: “Another for my list of reasons why the 90s were the best era in indie film history. A gritty, unapologetic work of misandry with a stunning performance by Lili Taylor, who always turns up but really turned it out this time.” (9)

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9. Gia (1998) (8)

Intern Emily’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “Besides starring Angelina Jolie in a lesbian sex scene, Gia is an incredible and interesting movie. In fact I have a notebook filled with my favourite quotes.”
Drew: “The first half of this movie is DELICIOUS. The second half is DEVASTATING. I think the movie is better when it’s being delicious? Either way Angelina Jolie is incredible and it’s worth the sadness.” (7)
Heather: “If you want to have an opinion about anything in queer pop culture history, it really is imperative that you watch Angelina Jolie of 1998 in this movie.” (8)
Kayla: “Angelina Jolie absolutely wrecks me with her performance here.” (8)
Natalie: “Amazing but gutting. One of the greatest performances of Angelina Jolie’s career.” (8)
Carmen: “Did I give this movie a perfect score because without it, a 13-year-old Carmen may not have discovered she was queer? Yes, yes I did. (Angelina, you’re still my dream girl! Call me!)” (10)
Riese: “We rented this movie from the local video store in high school and never returned it, and it was worth every fee. Sexy, tragic, understated, and impressively resonant for an HBO film.” (10)

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8. Aimee & Jaguar (2000) (8)

Phoenix’s Autostraddle Review (2009): “Aimee and Jaguar is an exceptional narrative that reminds us that we’ve all been through something and that being right or being a hero is complicated.”
Drew: “Because it’s my goddmaned, mediocre little right to be free.” UGH. This movie kills me. I wish formally it was as queer as its subject matter but there is something satisfying about watching a Very Serious Holocaust Movie that focuses on a lesbian love story. Maria Schrader gives an all-time magnetic performance as Felice, a woman so brave she’d risk being killed by Nazis to escape lesbian bed death.” (8)

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7. Heavenly Creatures (1994, New Zealand) (8.3)

Riese: “So good but so bleak.” (8)
Drew: “This was the first queer girl movie I fell in love with which probably explains why I’m so damaged/love Killing Eve so much. Heavenly Creatures is bursting with imagination and convincing in its suggestion that murder is just another part of teenage angst. By defending Woody Allen and marrying a guy named Ned Rocknroll, Kate Winslet hasn’t had the best few years, but as a teenager I also would’ve murdered for her, so this is hella relatable.” (8)

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6. The Favourite (2018) (8.3)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “The most stunning thing about The Favourite is how it slices open three queer women and lets their messy humanity bleed all over you, the way it adamantly refuses to allow you to love or hate any of them.”
Drew: “It’s kind of impressive that Yorgos Lanthimos managed to take that script and those actors and make it about himself. I adore Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz and their work here is phenomenal, but Lanthimos undercuts them at every turn with unmotivated camera tricks and languidly-paced editing. A movie isn’t inherently deeper because it’s less fun.” (5)
Heather: “One of the weirdest, most brilliant, most lesbian movies ever made.” (10)
Kayla: “The twisted mind of Yorgos Lanthimos delivers a sharp, weirdo comedy that I could devour over and over.” (10)

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5. Bessie (2015) (9)

Gabby’s Autostraddle Review (2015): “The black excellence in this film is something to behold and revel in. Everyone is gorgeous. The costumes, the wigs, the make-up, the dancing: all of it is authentic and just so much damn fun to watch.”
Drew: “Dee Rees is one of the best filmmakers around. Pariah and Mudbound are both absolute masterpieces. This is… a really good TV biopic. From anyone else I’d rave about it, but I know how good Rees can be, so I was left just slightly disappointed.” (7)
Natalie: “Dee Rees astounds again with the story of Bessie Smith. Anchored by an astounding performances by Queen Latifah and Mo’Nique.” (9)
Carmen: “Dee Rees directs a moving and wide reaching portrayal that happens to be one of the best performances in Queen Latifah’s career! The historic black femme representation I’ve always craved. The costumes and set design is equally top notch.” (10)
Heather: “Queen Latifah. Dee Rees. Bessie Smith. That’s all you need to know.” (10)

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4. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) (9)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2018): “…director Marielle Heller has created one of the most tender, visceral depictions of loneliness I’ve ever experienced. Not witnessed. Experienced. I saw this movie two weeks ago and I still haven’t recovered.”
Heather: “Melissa McCarthy brings the comedy and tragedy of Lee Israel’s story to life with confidence and grace.” (9)
Kayla: “This movie is so different in how understated and low-stakes and yet truly engaging and clever it is, and Melissa McCarthy absolutely should have been showered with awards for it along with Marielle Heller!!” (10)

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3. Monster (2003) (9.3)

Drew: “Charlize Theron is so much better here than most actors who “go ugly” for Oscars, because she always centers Aileen Wuornos’s humanity. This is a devastating movie about trauma and trying to survive and while it may be a tough watch, its rewards are worth it.” (8)
Riese: “A brutal, disturbing and violently raw vision of love and survival under the most desperate of social circumstances, the impact of childhood trauma and abuse, and the futility many women encounter when they try fighting back.” (10)
Kayla: “Charlize Theron’s career is marked with brilliant performances, but this is absolutely her finest.” (10)

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2. Professor Marston & The Wonder Women (2017) (9.3)

Heather’s Autostraddle Review (2017): “She’s brought an ardent screenplay, a soaring score, and unapologetically gauzy sunlight to bear on the story of the man, his wife, and their lover who created the most iconic female superhero of all time in the hopes that she would prepare the world for matriarchal rule — and a healthy side of bondage.”
Carmen: “My favorite work by Angela Robinson to date, this movie is sexy but also incredibly touching. It changed everything I thought I knew about Wonder Woman.” (8)
Drew: “This movie is quietly revolutionary in how casually it treats its subjects. It’s more or less a standard biopic romance, but it’s so aggressively queer. Angela Robinson continues to make a career out of completely changing the landscape with little fanfare.” (8)
Riese: “So f*cking sexy! Smart, interesting, and hot as hell. I wasn’t expecting to love this one as much as I did.” (10)
Heather: “Angela Robinson does it again! A perfect ten! A heckin’ sexy biopic about Wonder Woman creator William Moulton Marston and the two women who inspired his Amazonian warrior that softens his edges and accurately captures the origins of his matriarchal worldview.” (10)
Kayla: “This movie is mostly HOT, but it’s also very well acted and directed, and Rebecca Hall is a powerhouse.” (10)
Valerie: “Nothing makes me happier than a movie that is a passionate, sexy, love story between two women that also teaches me actual facts from real history. Queer nerd heaven.” (10)

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1. Wild Nights With Emily (2019) (9.5)

Heather’s review on Autostraddle (2019): “And to jolt our imaginations into action, she weaves together a hilarious, affectionate, piercing film — sourced directly from Dickinson’s own letters and poems, without the unnecessary interpretation of male historians or critics — that’s one part epic lesbian love story; one part poetic biopic; and one part relentless, satirical skewering of the patriarchal literary establishment that shaped our impression of Dickinson as a dour, virginal spinster.”
Heather: “A hilarious comedy biopic about Emily Dickinson that asks you only to take her at her (very lesbian) word.” (10)
Drew: “This movie manages to completely reframe one of the world’s most famous literary figures while being filled with fantastic jokes. There’s really no one else like Madeleine Olnek.” (9.5)